As Days Go By
by Bree Z Claire
Summary: Living in Manhattan was hard enough. Living with three rich, charming prats was something entirely different. A compilation of shorts depicting the lives of Merlin, Arthur, Gwaine, Lance, and everyone else as they live their lives from day to day.
1. Morning Rush

_Hello lovely ones!_

_So...you're all probably wondering "WTF? Where did the original ADGB go?" well I'm here to tell you that it is gone._

_My beta brought it up a few months back and it's been trolling my mind ever since...you see when I started As Days Go By, I wanted it to be a humorous, care free compilation of shorts that everyone could enjoy. A break from all the angst in the world if you would. Sadly, my head got a little too big and I got ambitious. I created something angsty, drama-like and heavy and merged it into this sweet, funny, fluffy series._

_So I've decided to separate the two (though there will be noticeable relations) and I'm currently working on rebuilding that angsty plot-line. It'll be re-posted when I've gotten some better footing on it._

_I thank you all for your support and patients, hopefully the wait won't be too long! Any suggestions for further chapters is greatly welcomed!  
_

_Enjoy,_

_Bree Z Claire_

**_I do not own Merlin in any way, shape, or form._**

* * *

"GWAINE! For the love of all that is holy, open up this door right now!" Merlin pounded the door several more times and for the fifth time that morning debated whether or not to implode the door with magic. The doorknob slowly opened to reveal Gwaine wrapped in a towel with a smirk.

* * *

_Hi, I'm Merlin and this is my typical morning. Gwaine, one of my three flatmates, spends a lifetime in the shower each morning before heading off to work at a modelling agency. The only thing is that he doesn't have to be at work until noon whereas I have to be in the car by seven-thirteen sharp at the latest if I'm going to get to work on time. So why the man needs to take over the bathroom all morning is a mystery to me._

* * *

"Alright there Merlin, I'm out, I'm out. No need to get your knickers in a bunch." The half naked man saunter off to his room.

"There better still be hot water left in the shower!" Merlin called after him. He turned and was just about to enter the steaming bathroom when a strong hand pulled him back out again.

"Sorry Merlin, I'm running late!" Lance scurried in and closed the door leaving Merlin confused and a tiny bit pissed off.

"Lance! You don't even work today; you have the day off!" He flailed his arms about as if to help make his point.

"Sorry Merlin, but I promised Gwen I'd take her to the Writer's Conference today and the taxi will be here any minute."

Merlin groaned and slumped against the wall. Maybe he could look into buying a new place. A place with more than one bathroom. He got up to peer down at the ground floor of his flat. The glass tables and white leather upholstery covering the couches screamed a type of wealth and elegance that Merlin clearly did not have. The place had a type of mashed-up look to it though, messy but orderly at the same time just like the people who lived in it. The flat was richly decorated and well stocked with food, which of course was mandatory since it had to feed four grown men.

It never crossed his mind that he'd ever end up living in a place like this. After all, any guy straight out of college would be lucky to find a place to stay let alone be offered a gorgeous flat like this. So when he came upon an ad in the newspaper of three men looking for another roommate –with a rent that made Merlin's mouth practically water —Merlin was practically hopping with relief. Little did he know that the rent was only so small due to the hell he had to put up with three rich-beyond-your-wildness-imagination-with-unbelieveably-rich-families men.

It was very obvious from his first few steps into the flat that he was in way over his head, but the men were insistent about getting a new flatmate. Apparently they had scared away all the other applicators with their…elaborate lifestyle.

Gwaine led a life of parties and fed off a continuous string of one-night stands. Lance was a very well known doctor and when he wasn't busy saving the lives of cardiac patients, he and Gwen were busy planning their upcoming wedding. Arthur was the top something-or-rather of Manhattan's largest law firm, Pendragon LLC., and coupled with his dashing charm and good looks, got almost as much action as Gwaine.

So if three handsome, successful, rich, men living together in one apartment weren't intimidating enough, putting them all together in one room turned it into party central. Merlin couldn't remember the last night he was able to fall asleep without wearing earplugs and headphones due to the mayhem going on below him. He had already had his fair share of midnight raids, drunken fights, drunken women –and men—wandering into his room looking for a booty call, taking care of hung-over guests first thing in the morning, sending women home in a taxi and telling them that "of course he'll call you tomorrow!" It was, however, a small price to pay when looking at all the up sides.

He was, alas, an aspiring writer still looking for a solid job at the time, and he needed the cheap apartment more that anything right now. And if that meant living with three party animals –maybe not so much Lance —so be it.

By the time he heard the doorknob jiggle he was all but ready to bolt into the bathroom. When he heard the click he was already in an Olympic runner ready position and just about ready to spring when Arthur pulled him into a head-lock at the last moment.

"And where do you think you're going?" he sound much too jolly for a man who woke up not three hours ago complaining about a raging hangover before crashing back to bed.

"Arthur, stop it! I'm going to be late for work!" He struggle under the large arm of Arthur Pendragon until he was swing around and let go in the opposite direction of the now opened door.

"Sorry mate but you'll have to wait." The bathroom locked once again.

Merlin saw a flash of red and resisted the urge to set something on fire while Lance just chuckled lightly and hurried downstairs, throwing him a sympathetic shrugged. _What can you do? _it seemed to say. He was halfway through counting back from ten when Arthur's voice taunted him. "Plus you can't be late if I'm late; you're my assistant after all."

That's right; he worked for one of his flatmates as an assistant. It's wasn't the most glamorous job but it put money in Merlin's pocket. It was a strange story how that happened to be, Arthur had walked in on Merlin unpacking when he saw the incredible war zone that was his room. Apparently Arthur's current assistant couldn't tell right from left and he didn't have time to hold interviews so he offered Merlin the job on the spot. They argued for a considerable time after that.

"_Oh, well thank you very much your highness, but I don't know anything about law firms." he spat out sarcastically. It was true that he hadn't a clue about law firms though._

"_Nonsense, I won't take no for an answer. Your organization skills obviously need considerable toning and being an assistant ought to whip you into shape just fine. Plus I've been dying to firing that floozy for about a month now."_

"_While I appreciate you hiring me under the sheer pretense of training me like a puppy, the answer is no. I went to school for a reason and that was to become a writer, not a lawyer's assistant." Arthur rolled his eyes at this._

"_All you have to do is follow my instructions and do everything I tell you to, got it? Believe me, work for me for a few months and you'll have enough money to write, publish, and print your own book! How does that sound?"_

To be honest it sounded pretty damn good. But here he was almost an entire year later and he had yet to find another job. On top of that, he was working for a pompous know-it-all that knew everything about making and supporting arguments which made saying 'no' a very difficult thing to do.

The door clicked and Arthur walked out, "All yours Merlin." He glanced at his watch, "Ooo, you'd better hurry up or we're going to be late. Well unless you could conjure us up a magical flying car or even better yet, teleport us there." With a final smirk he made his way downstairs. Merlin could still hear the laughter as he finished up in the bathroom and stomped downstairs.

"Stupid prats…the lot of them…"


	2. Pancakes

_Hello lovelies!_

_Enjoy,_

_Bree Z Claire_

**_I do not own Merlin in any way._**

* * *

Merlin typed away on his keyboard, trying hard to retain all the thoughts pouring in from nowhere and everywhere.

The stories, the plots, the characters and their dialogues were all too much for him and his head was beginning to spin slightly. But he knew he had to get down as much as he could or else he'd lose it all the moment he let himself fall asleep. He spent all day taking calls in Arthur's office and organising the man's schedule for the coming Monday so by the time he left the office he was exhausted from the continuous action. Arthur had left work early for some function Merlin didn't bother asking about, which meant he'd be heading home alone. When he reached the door to his flat, he half expected the blasting of music and the bright flashes of disco ball lights. So he braced himself before opening the door…

To a silent room.

Merlin turned on the lights and looked around. Everything was still in its proper place. The large leather couches and loveseats were empty and clean, the tables were still in one piece, no drunken bodies lay sprawled on the floor, no beer cans or other munchies littered the fireplace, no undergarments hung from the ceiling fans, the overly large HD plasma screen TV was damage free, no plants were overturned, and no large group of men and women were grinding to the techno roar coming from the ceiling-high speakers. The apartment was empty and silent for the first time in weeks.

"Oh thank Shakespeare!" Merlin could've melted to the floor in euphoria right then and there and screamed to the heavens in a way that would've made Andy Dufesne proud. He was only guilty of one of the two before he skipped into the kitchen to fetch himself a late dinner. He had just placed his grilled cheese and ham on the pan before spotting a number of yellow sticky notes on the kitchen counter:

_Went out to celebrate Leon's birthday. Don't wait up._

_-Arthur_

_Victoria Secret party. Won't be back till late if at all!_

_Gwaine_

_Staying at Gwen's tonight, see you tomorrow! Lance._

Merlin smiled as he tossed out the sticky notes. Maybe he could finally get a proper night of peace and quite. _TGIF for sure._ He flipped the sandwich onto a plate, grabbed a glass of water and made his way upstairs to his room. He finished his dinner and checked his email before a familiar feeling washed over him. Just as he thought, the moment he began settling in and felt the urge to hit the hay, the ideas started coming to him. He immediately opened up a new word document on his laptop and started typing anything and everything that came to him.

This had happened to him enough times that he knew how to predict and induce these moments. Between his rushed mornings and busy afternoon and evenings, Merlin barely had time for his body to stop let alone let his mind wander. One particularly stressful day he got home at around three in the morning and practically passed out in bed. Just before he dozed off however, he started picturing situations and words flowed through him like magic (no pun intended).

He had never gotten such great writing done before he came upon this realization so he decided to keep the rule: keep your mind busy during the day and let it wander at night. Except when there were parties keeping him from concentrating… which were a lot of nights. So when the opportunity such as an empty apartment presented itself to him, Merlin welcomed it with open arms.

He typed swiftly well into the night and didn't even register when the sun peaked over the horizon. The screen was now filled with thirty-some pages of mythology and medieval adventures of a young prince and Merlin still had ideas popping up left and right. His hands were beginning to cramp up but he couldn't stop even if he wanted to. It was only when the last few words were typed on the screen that Merlin allowed himself to sip the last few drops of his water. He let out a long, satisfied sigh before leaning back in his chair and letting sleep wash over him.

**~ xXx ~**

_**BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

"Merlin, wake up!" Arthur slammed his fist against the door. He wasn't alone.

The boy groaned in protest and kept his eyes shut, willing the voices to go away.

"Yeah Merlin, I told Percy here that you make a fine batch of pancakes so hurry on out here and make us some!" Gwaine and Percival had a fondness of food that Merlin would never understand.

"Hi Merlin, could I have blueberries in mine?"

"Chocolate-chip for me please. Oh and Gwen's coming over later by the way!" Lance's smile was obvious in his voice.

"Now get your ass out of bed before I drag you out myself you lazy oaf and make us some food!"

"Merlin?"

"Come out Merlin!"

"Please Merlin?"

"_Mer_-lin!"

Merlin slammed his head against his desk and groaned, "I hate my life."

* * *

_Hi there, it's Merlin. I hope you lot are having a better morning than I am. You'd think by now these three prats would know how to make themselves breakfast but no, God forbid they have to worry themselves with making food when they could easily buy a chef to do it for them. You heard me, _buy a chef_. That's how rich these wankers are. But from the moment they found out I could cook (something my mother taught me) they started asking me to cook for them whenever possible. And yes, 3am munchies are included in that 'whenever possible' timeslot._

* * *

Merlin poured the last of the batter onto the hot pan and downed his eighth coffee that morning. When the three –and Percy—managed to get him out of bed, he refused to make any food until they got some coffee into him. It was around his fifth cup that he began feeling mildly awake again so he started mixing the batter for pancakes. He made three types: blueberries for Percy, chocolate-chip for Lance, and plain for Arthur and Gwaine.

"Alright, this is the last batch and then I'm going back to sleep." He let out a yawn and almost fell over due to his lack of consciousness and the unbalanced weight caused by the iron pan. When the four laughed, Merlin was reminded of what it felt like to take care of a group of two-year olds. "Oh sod off, I had a late night. And it's Saturday."

"So that explains why someone's a little grumpy today," Gwaine was the first to fork the pancakes onto his plate. Percy reached in at the same time and the two began battling it out for the last bits of breakfast – at this point it didn't matter what kind they were anymore.

"Wake up on the wrong side of the table did you?" Arthur didn't look up from his newspaper but Merlin could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Oh shut up you dollophead." He rolled his eyes are turned back to put the pan in the sink. As he rinsed the metal with water he felt a body close behind him and a voice in his ear.

"What did you just say?" Arthur growled.

He felt his ears heat up, "Umm…nothing?"

"I thought so," and instantly the body was gone allowing Merlin to breath again. "You know, for a boy without a penny to his name, you sure have a mouth on you."

"I'm sure it comes in handy sometimes." Gwaine gave Merlin a wink and the others laughed. Merlin just rolled his eyes and grabbed another coffee. He was glad that his roommates didn't have a problem with him liking other men…and women for that matter. When the topic came up, Merlin wasn't quite sure how to explain the idea of pansexuality to them but Arthur and Lance simply shrugged and said it didn't matter to them and Gwaine agreed. It was one of the few qualities he was grateful for in his flatmates but it was something that meant a lot to him. It meant that he wasn't burdened with keeping another secret from them. Although with the other secret, keeping it under wraps required a little more conscious work because it was second nature to him.

It was a small thing, not even requiring a second thought. It was a rainy Sunday morning and Merlin had just come down for a cup of coffee. After he poured himself a cup, the phone rang.

The next hour consisted of Gwen shrieking at him about how the caterers used indigo icing instead of lavender, the photographer cancelled, the band had just broke up and she couldn't find a replacement because Lance had really wanted them, and about another hundred-and-one reasons why the wedding would be a disaster. By the time he miraculously calmed her down and hung up, his coffee had gone cold. Too lazy to put it in the microwave, Merlin just whispered a few words and the liquid started to boil again. All was good in life, except that Lance had walked in and caught the entire act.

"Merlin…"

"L-Lance..." Merlin almost dropped his cup, his heart was pounding.

"Did you just…make the coffee boil with only your words?"

"Umm…maybe…?"

"Oh." The doctor nodded slowly. After a few minutes of continuous, mechanical nodding, he finally walked out of the kitchen only to return and leave a few more times before making the final decision to stay. "But how is that possible?" He waved his hand around and furrowed his brow.

"I…umm…just…can." Merlin tried pathetically. He felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. He hated that look on Lance's face and he cursed himself again and again for not being more careful. "I…can kind of…do magic."

"Huh…" He nodding, "fascinating…" And nodded some more.

"What's fascinating?" Gwaine yawned and sauntered in, clad only in a pair of Calvin Klein boxer briefs.

"Merlin's a magician." Lance offered, surprisingly chipper than he'd been two seconds ago.

"I though he was a writer."

"I'm not a magician, I'm a warlock!" When the two turned to stare at him, he just melted onto the table and wished he'd never been born. _Oh let this be a dream, please let this be a very very very very bad dream._

"He heated up his cup of coffee using only words." Lance curled his finger under his chin, "it's quite interesting really. This goes against everything I've ever learned in my years of studying science and the human body." He looked up, "Can you do other things Merlin?"

"Like pull a bunny out of his hat?" Gwaine crunched on an apple and scratched his belly. Lance just shushed him and turned back to the very curled up figure in a chair at the table.

"C'mon Merlin, please, could you do something else?"

Merlin looked up into Lance's expectant face. "Err…" when Lance said please a few more (hundred) times he gingerly lifted his hand to draw the liquid out of his cup and began maneuvering the coffee in circles.

"Holy shit you _are_ magic!" Gwaine spat out apple pieces.

"Amazing." Lance shook his head is disbelief. It was then that Merlin was bombarded with a range of questions anywhere from 'could I have someone perform a CAT scan on you?' to 'could you help me pick up girls with that magic trick?' and Merlin was just about ready to throw himself under a bus when none other then Arthur stepped into the kitchen dressed a white T-shirt and jeans.

"What's going on here?" he raised an eyebrow to the three men huddled close together at the end of the table. Lance and Gwaine told him the 'events' that took place that morning and pressured Merlin into another degrading display of magic. He conjured a small flame in the palm of his hand and held it out for all of them to see. Gwaine swore a few more times in awed disbelief and Lance just looked at Merlin like he was the Santa Claus of science…but not really. After a long pause, Arthur threw up his hands.

"Great. So where the hell was this when our power went out last weekend and we stumbled around the house looking like idiots trying to find a flashlight when you could've just done that! Good job Merlin, thank you. I had to limp around with a stubbed toe for nothing." He stalked up the stairs. Merlin rolled his eyes and sighed, he should've expected a reaction like this from Arthur. Really, how self-involved could some people be?

After that incident, things went back to normal for the most part. They went on with their daily lives like nothing ever happened. On occasion Lance would try to ask Merlin for a blood sample and Gwaine would ask him to be his wingman for the night in order to pick up some girls and Arthur would tease him from time to time, but all in all their relationship as flatmates didn't change.

He supposed the whole 'being a pansexual' thing wasn't as big of a surprise after coming out of the warlock's closet. It was hard for him to admit it sometimes, but living with Gwaine, Arthur, and Lance wasn't as bad as he led others to believe.

"Merlin, I'm still hungry." Gwaine pouted from his chair, "Make me some egg why don't you?"

"Oh yes, me too please." Lance held his plate up and Percy did the same.

"Me three!"

"And keep them coming." Arthur waved his hand in a circular motion, not even looking up from his newspaper.

But mostly they drove him insane.


	3. That Wonderful Time of the Year

_Hi hi hi!_

_Does anyone else giggle at the fact that Arthur is debating the consequences of eating his watch? Gets me every time lol!  
_

_Enjoy,_

_Bree Z Claire_

**_I do NOT own Merlin_**

* * *

Merlin peered up from his desk to see Arthur working away in his office. He didn't have to look through the glass window to know that Arthur hadn't moved from his spot since one-thirty this afternoon and it was now almost midnight. What confused Merlin the most was that Arthur barely had any appointments today.

His schedule was practically empty (which was very rare but Arthur always liked to work extra hard when holidays approached so he could relax more when the time came) so now it seemed like he was just busying himself needlessly. He'd spent a few hours on the phone with Gwaine and Lance, which Merlin patched through, talking secretly about something but then just lounged around in his office. It got to the point where Merlin debated whether or not to ask if he could leave, but Arthur would just quirk an eyebrow and tell him to update the databases or confirm some appointments or file the Avalon account. Merlin rubbed his eyes, how much longer did he have to stay here?

"Still here huh? I guess I should've known." Merlin looked up to see one of his coworkers approach.

"Freya! Yeah, Arthur's been holed up in his office all afternoon after his morning meetings. I'd ask to leave but then I'd have no ride home in this snow storm." The brunette hissed and gave him a sympathetic look.

"On Christmas Eve too, of all days…" Merlin nodded but then realized the time.

"Yeah…hey, it's late, what are _you_ still doing here? Is Morgana not letting you off either?" Morgana was Arthur's step-sister and just like Arthur, was one of the lead attorneys of the firm, soon to make senior partner or so Merlin was told. Their sibling rivalry often left the whole building shaking and the job of separating the two –less they tear each other apart over who's getting a particular case and scare away the client – fell on Merlin and Freya. It was good thing he got paid so well, or he might have had to ask for a raise on that duty alone.

Morgana was stunning in whatever she did, wherever she went, and whenever she was in the presence of clients, attorneys or anyone really. Even Merlin gapped like a guppy when he first saw those piercing green eyes and bright red lips. Actually, whenever she was visiting the floors everything seemed to come to a stand still.

Freya giggled, "No. Actually she was the one who had to practically throw me out of the office." Freya, in Merlin's opinion, worked much too hard and didn't deserve enough credit. She was a shy girl, but very bright and sweet.

"So then why aren't you spending your holiday here instead of at home?" Merlin smiled when he saw he girl blush slightly and ventured a confident smirk; being around Freya always made him feel that way. "I don't suppose you came to visit me instead, did you?"

"Merlin," Arthur's door creaked open and the man walked out with a handful of black folders. Why he used black folders instead of the typical office colour Merlin would never know. Something about identification or stupid like that; Arthur was quite strange in his organizing ways. "I need these accounts filed," he dropped half of them onto the assistant's desk and shoved the other half into the assistant himself, "and these numbers imputed into the database by Tuesday. I hope that's not too much work for you?" He turned then to smile at the young lady nearby. "Hello Freya, why aren't you enjoying your holiday at home?"

"Just running a few errands before I leave Mr. Pendragon. What about yourself, surely the president can't spend all of Christmas in the office?" Merlin gave her grateful smile.

"Ahh, but he can if he must." He smiled kindly and Merlin's face fell about a hundred feet. Freya shot him another sympathetic look. "I'm actually just finishing up and waiting for a call," and as if on cue, a loud generic ringing could be heard coming from his office. "Speak of the devil, excuse me." He promptly jogged back his office and closed the door. When it clicked shut the two looked at one another and laughed.

"Busy man."

"Oh yes," Merlin nodded seriously. "It takes quite a lot of concentration to shoot paper balls into the recycling bin all day long."

"Oh Merlin, I'm sure he's not that bad."

"Freya, the blinds are open. I see him spend an hour each morning doing nothing but drink coffee, read the newspaper and finish the crossword. The man may be a one hell of a lawyer but he is a lazy prat when no one's looking. Since when is it the assistant's job to pick up his boss's dry cleaning from the place across town?" He groaned and ran a hand down his face and prayed he'd get to be home soon.

"Well, maybe this can cheer you up." She handed him a small box wrapped in green and topped with a bright red bow.

"Freya, you shouldn't have." He flipped open the lid to find a small wooden hourglass. It was a very unique vintage style, and instead of normal wooden supports, large majestic dragons with ruby eyes held up the two round ends of the timekeeper. He tipped it to watch the golden sand fall inside the glass. "This is beautiful, thank you so much."

Freya beamed, "I'm glad you like it. When I saw it I knew right away that it was perfect for you and plus I know how you love mythology so I thought the dragons fit."

"It's wonderful Freya, thank you. I just wish I had something to give to you in return."

"Oh no, Merlin, it's alright really. Maybe one day…"

"Hmm?" Merlin was distracted by the golden grains of sand.

"Oh, nothing. And besides, looks like you'll be heading off sooner then you think." Freya smiled and nodded her head towards Arthur's office where the man was currently pulling on his jacket and packing up his things. "I should be heading home. Merry Christmas, Merlin."

"Merry Christmas, Freya!" Merlin waved as she crossed the office and disappeared into the elevator. He turned back, beaming at his new hourglass.

"Someone has a crush on you." Arthur said in a sing-song voice. Merlin just rolled his eyes.

"Oh shut up," He carefully placed the hourglass back into its velvet-lined box.

"And you like her back." Arthur smiled mockingly in a way that made Merlin positive this wasn't going to end anytime soon.

"I do not!" The young man rose out of his chair and began shrugging his jacket on. "I mean…yeah, maybe but..." Merlin ran his hand through his hair with a huff. "Freya is sweet and kind and smart and considerate…"

"And way out of your league?" Arthur mocked sympathy. When all he received was a shrug, he rolled his eyes. "Well, as hard as it is to believe –and believe me when I say it is— Freya seems to have taken quite a liking to you so why don't you just suck it up, be a man, and ask her to our New Year's party." He grabbed the assistant by the shoulders and began leading him towards to elevator until they were both heading down to the main lobby.

"We're having a New Year's party?" A look from Arthur made it obvious that it was a stupid question to ask. "Great. Just great. Oh wait, how am I supposed to ask her?" His heart began pounding in his chest. "I-is this like a date sort of thing or like a 'hey come to the party because I may or may not be into you' or – OH WAIT! What if Gwaine see's her and-and—" The ding from the elevator sounded more like a death sentence than anything else at that moment and Arthur, annoyed and tired, had to practically drag the shaking assistant out of the building and into the parking lot.

"Oh shut up you sad, sad little man. Besides, it looks like she already left so I guess you'll have to wait till Monday!" He slapped the boy on the back and signalled his driver to bring the car around.

"Oh God…" He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

**~ xXx ~**

"- or what if she thinks it's just a casual party and meets someone else?"

"It's likely." Arthur's mouth twitched as they waited for the elevator to take them up to their floor.

"Arthur!"

He laughed, "Look Merlin, if it makes you feel any better I'll make sure Gwaine is kept preoccupied with other women, in fact, I'll make sure that any man that makes a step near your woman will be thrown out by the bouncer."

"She is _not _my woman!"

"Yet." Arthur winked at the same time the elevator binged, which only made his smirk grow wider. The two stepped onto their floor.

The long hallway stretched far to their left and far to their right and both led to dead ends, which could be seen when you stepped out. Across from the elevator was a gate-type doorway that protected another door behind it; double security for good reason. It was quite obvious to Merlin that whoever actually managed to break into their flat could die and rich man with just a leather sofa or one so-huge-how-the-hell-did-you-get-this-in-here television screen or probably even a cup.

It took Merlin almost half a year before he realized that it was okay to use the silver ware for eating and not to treat the coffee maker like it was made like a dried sandcastle that could crumble at any second. He guessed that was the upside with living with Arthur, Gwaine, and Lance; they didn't worry about material things because they could probably get a hundred more with a snap of their fingers. Rich prats.

Merlin ran his hand over his face, exhausted. "I can't believe we're having this discussion right now." He glanced at his watch and groaned in frustration; he really just wanted his bed right now. "Oh, it's Christmas by the way; we worked through till Christmas. Great. Shouldn't there be a party bordering on the lines of insanity right now going on behind these doors?"

"Oh you'd be surprise, Merlin." Arthur's warm smile was hidden as he turned the door knob. His face was calm and composed by the time he turned around to face Merlin and held the door open for him. "You first," Was all he said.

"Please tell me this isn't another silly-string attack plan's Arthur, I'm really too tired for this right— Oh." Merlin had his eyes partially closed as he walked into the dimly lit apartment but when he caught sight of humongous Christmas tree next to the staircase his eyes grew wide. The only lights were those emanating from the tree. They were golden yellow and reflected brilliantly off the large red orbs that bobbed up and down on the branches. The fresh scent of pine and the warmth from the fireplace filled the apartment like a loving hug. The four stockings that hung above the fireplace made Merlin laugh fondly and reminded him almost too much of home. Lance and Gwaine stood beside the tree, next to the stairs, smiling.

"Well? What do you think?" Lance spread his arms out and Gwaine bounced happily on his toes. Merlin turned around to see Arthur with a smile matching those of his two friends. He knew then why Arthur had kept him at the office so late.

"You wanker! There I was, sitting at that desk for sixteen hours, wondering what the hell kind of prat makes his assistant work on Christmas Eve _and _early Christmas morning when all along you lot have been planning this? You suck like a bloody bucket of ticks! You _all _suck!" During the duration of his rant he had flung off his coat, kicked off his shoes, climbed over the couch, and was now chugging down a warm cup of hot chocolate. He let out a satisfied hum as his set the cup back down.

"So I take it you don't like it." Arthur crossed his arms by the door with a solemn look on his face. "Alright, let's tear it all down then." He waved a dismissive hand and Lance and Gwaine nodded seriously. Lance moved to unplug the lights and Gwaine went to tear down the stockings but one shocked, puppy-eyed look from Merlin made them collapse in a fit of laughter. After a moment, Merlin couldn't help but laugh himself and soon enough, the whole apartment was filled with the joyous laughter of four flatmates and best friends.

When they had all settled in and were able to sit up properly on their own, Merlin spoke up. "I can't believe you guys did all this for me, I don't know what to say."

"A thank you would be nice, do you have any idea how long it took to string those lights? I think I'll have battle scars straight through till Easter." Gwaine examined his hands with a furrowed brow. Lance chuckled.

"It's the least we could do Merlin, after all you've done for us. If it weren't for you, I never would have met Gwen."

"If it weren't for your help, I never would've scored those Playboy twins." The model gave him a wink and then a more serious smile. "And also, if it weren't for you, I'd probably still be jumping into bed first and asking for ID later."

The four of them all winced at the memory.

"If it weren't for you, I'd still have a bumbling, clumsy, needy, idiot, good for nothing assistant." After a moment's pause, Arthur frowned. "Oh wait…" The boys erupted in laughter once more as Merlin whipped a pillow at the blond. Lance was first to recover this time.

"What we're trying to say, Merlin, is that it's been almost a year since you've moved in with us and thanks to you our lives have changed for the better. You've taught us all a little something about humility and you're truly one of the family now."

Gwaine, who had somehow wiggled next to Merlin, patted the boy on the shoulder. "Merry Christmas lad."

"Now don't go crying like a girl now _Mer_lin." Arthur joked. Merlin was so full of emotion he let that pass.

"You guys, this is so amazing. Thank you so much." He meant every word.

There was a tranquil pause in the room, with each of them reflecting on the year that had gone by. They were their own little family now, there was no truer way to describe them, and it was so much more than Merlin had ever hoped for when he first moved to this large, lonely city. Arthur was the first to begin fidgeting.

"Well enough of this sitting around business, open your damn presents already!"


	4. Calling Mamma Emrys

_Hello wonderful people!_

_Enjoy,_

_Bree Z Claire_

**_I do not own Merlin in any way, shape, or form._**

* * *

"_They seem like such nice boys, I don't know why you talk about them as if they're animals."_

Merlin sipped his coffee and suppressed a sigh. Of course they _seemed_ friendly enough, but that was only because she didn't have to live with the lot. When Merlin brought his mother, Hunith, home from the airport for a tour of his apartment, they were both shocked – for very different reasons mind you - by the three perfectly well-mannered, polite and courteous young men that greeted them just beyond the doorway.

Fresh coffee was already brewing, and breakfast was being laid out as Gwaine charmed Hunith into a chair near the kitchen island. Merlin walked in cautiously, wondering just what had happened between him rushing out early Christmas morning to the airport and the time it took for him and his mother to get back. The floors that had been littered with wrapping paper and boxes the night before – or early that morning if you want to be technical about it - were now all vacuumed and cleaned, empty cups of hot chocolate were now no where to be seen, and everyone looked as if they were about to break out into a musical number out of the Sound of Music. Something was downright fishy.

"Why Ms. Emrys, I can see where Merlin gets his striking good looks from." Gwaine winked innocently at the woman sitting in the chair who giggled at the complement.

"I hope you had a good flight Ma'am." Arthur had his hands behind his back and dipped his head forward in a little bow. Hunith touched his arm and smiled warmly.

"It was wonderful Arthur, thank you so much for the tickets; I've never flown first class before!" Arthur, the sneaky prat, had managed to track down Merlin's mother and fly her to Manhattan to surprise Merlin on Christmas Day. Of course Hunith had contacted him before the flight and ruined the surprise, but what was a mother to do when she hadn't seen her son for so long and missed him so dearly? Merlin didn't mind picking her up at the airport though; he's missed her too.

"May I offer you some coffee or tea?"

"And breakfast of course!"

"Oh no, that won't be necessary Lance, Gwaine." Merlin decided to step in before his mother was bombarded with the charming smiles of not one, not two, but three handsome men. God forbid they should use their sparkling white teeth for evil…

"Oh, but Merlin they already prepared everything for us." His mother leaned her head against him with a small pout while Merlin scowled at the three men giving him matching smirks perfectly disguised as smiles.

"Yes, Merlin, why make your poor dear mother walk all the way down the street when there's perfectly good coffee right here?" Gwaine gave him a disapproving look.

"In the comfort of our nice, warm, homely home." Lances eyes were wide and innocent.

"In the company of your three favourite flatmates." Arthur grinned so brightly Merlin was almost scared his face would split in two. Almost.

But to hell if they thought they were going to pull a fast one over him. God only knew what sorts of chaos would erupt from letting his mother near these three for more than a few minutes. Between Arthur's negotiation prowess, Lance's genuine smile and bedside manner, and Gwaine's quite obvious sex appeal, they'd probably end up turning his mother against him completely – dear Lord did he just mention 'sex appeal' and 'his mother' in the same sentence? _God!_ They'd be known as the Golden Boys and Merlin would be the son that complained too much about these – quote unquote- perfect young men. There was no way in Hell Merlin was going to let that happen. No sir-ry.

But the coffee… Merlin caught a whiff of the slight hazelnut scent and his head began to swirl in euphoria.

The new coffee makers –yes, plural— Gwaine had bought Arthur and Lance were busy brewing two types of equally expensive coffees. Merlin knew they were evil, but he had no idea just how evil these three could be. He knew in that instant that Gwaine, Lance and Arthur had snuck into his room, stolen his phone, and snuck a peek at the itinerary he and his mom had planned together. They knew Merlin would be taking his mother to the popular café down the street. They knew that the coffee makers at the café wouldn't stand a chance against the ones Gwaine had bought. Nor could their baristas stand a chance against Lance and Arthur.

Between Lance's medical degree and Arthur's studies to pass the bar, the two had built up enough years of late nights, all-nighters, and then some between them to perfect the brewing of coffee. From decaf to espresso, Columbian to Irish, black as night to way too much milk – Arthur had briefly fallen asleep while pouring the carton – those two knew their way around the art of coffee-making like no one's business. Combine that with their existing careers, Gwaine's amazing inability to wake properly until noon without a cup or two due to Mount Everest sized hangovers, and Merlin's unreliable writing habits, the four of them knew how much the other relied on coffee. So of course when Merlin had rushed off in the morning to pick up Hunith without the time to make himself a cup, his flatmates knew just had badly he was itching for the liquid pick-me-up.

Bastards.

Merlin caved because it was just too damn early. "Fine! But you three better be on your best behaviour." He grumbled as he went over to pour himself and his mom a cup of coffee.

Leaving his mother completely unguarded.

But in Merlin's defence, it really was just too early for a human brain to function properly. How was he supposed to know that his flatmates would choose then and there to pounce on his mother, asking about embarrassing childhood stories? But when he heard his mother utter the subject 'Dumbo' and 'tried to see if he could actually fly with those ears,' Merlin knew he had to step in.

"No! Alright, that's it. We're leaving. Goodbye!" In one fluid motion, Merlin slammed the untouched cups of coffee onto the table, grabbed his mother, and all but ran from the building. He barely had time to register the faint calls and jeers of his flatmates.

"Merlin, wait! We can still test that theory—"

"Studies have actually shown that—"

"Oh _Mer_lin, don't run away!"

The lecture he received in the elevator from his mother had been even worse in that it proved his theory on Overexposure to Three Charming Prats. She was officially on their side now. The lecture had continued all the way to the café where they both sat now, sipping in the warm, delicious heaven.

"They seem like such nice boys, I don't know why you talk about them as if they're animals."

Merlin frowned after taking another long drink from his mug. "You don't know them like I do mother."

Hunith's warm hand found her son's. "On the contrary my boy, I do know them. From all the emails you've sent me over the last months it's become clear to me that you've found yourself a new home here with these three men. And it seems you care more about them than you let on." A mother's knowing smile seemed to crack away at Merlin's shell. He laughed warmly and looked down at his bright green coffee mug.

William's Café was known for its lounge-like atmosphere and expertly brewed coffee. It was a small family owned business and a place where regular customers were known by their first names. It could've been taken out of a scene of _Cheers_ or _Friends_.

The walls were decorated with golden brown wallpaper laced with simple designs and had white boarders lining the large, almost wall-sized windows. Where the coffee bar was stationed, a royal red brick wall was covered with hundreds of cabinets all containing a different type of coffees, syrups, or powders.

Much to Merlin's relief, the café was open almost twenty-four hours and always had seats available for whoever wished to occupy them whether they be benches or tables near the windows, couches on the main floor, or regular chairs and tables. He would usually come by in the evenings when service had died down in order to work on his laptop when the apartment became too loud to handle with human ears. This was one of Merlin's safe havens, a place where he could escape to and work in peace and it was no surprise to the owner when he found Merlin spending a night or two on the break room couch. He was glad he had an inside connection in the form of one of his closest friends.

"Well if it isn't the aspiring writer himself, Merlin Emrys!"

"Will!" The two boys shook hands and exchanged claps on the back before Merlin took his seat, pulling up another for his friend. "What have you been up to? How's life treating you?"

"Oh you know same old, same old, and not too bad if I do say so myself. Hello Ms. Emrys, long time no see." Will beamed and hugged the woman who was like a second mother to him, just as he was a second son to Hunith.

"It's been too long William, how is the family?"

"Last I heard, still touring Europe on their second honeymoon. Halfway across Rome I should think." Will's parents had set out across the world, leaving their son to handle the café on his own. While some, especially Merlin, were afraid the café would take a tumble down the proverbial stairs and end up in flames, Will had a surprising knack for business. Combined with his warm smile and ferocious sense of loyalty – he'd once knocked out and thrown out a young group of teenagers who had not so accidentally tripped a blind regular without even giving them the chance to begin the word 'sorry' – the stream of customers never seemed to end. "So what are you two doing here? Going to put on a show for us Merlin? You know, people have been asking for you." Will wiggled his eyebrows at his friend who scoffed.

"I still can't believe you talked me into that."

It was early one morning when Will had invited Merlin over to check out the new stage they'd just had built in. Now the café also housed live music by whoever wished to perform, usually upcoming performers or bands who wanted to try out their talents in a friendly environment.

Merlin had been waiting for Will to brew him a cup of coffee and had been mindlessly fingering the old piano that had been moved and repaired from the storage room in the basement when the two began joking around about forming a two-man band. It was a random thought that surfaced and failed in college, but Will declared it was only because Merlin didn't have a decent enough band to back up his more than decent vocals.

He must have dozed off while still playing (same as he would when typing) because the next thing he realized, he was staring into the eyes of a very full house. Will later told him that he'd been putting on quite the show and the customers couldn't get in fast enough. With a crowd of expectant eyes on him, Will had slung an arm around Merlin and introduced him as their first performer to test out the William's Café Stage and Merlin had no choice but to grumble curses at his friend before turning back to the piano to perform a quick song. Ever since then, Will had been trying to get Merlin back on stage every time he walked through those doors. "I was half asleep when you pulled me in that day."

"And you still look half asleep, is that lawyer boss of yours still working you to the bone? I heard from Freya you were working on Christmas Eve." Will didn't even try to hide the bitterness in his voice. "What sort of turnip-head makes his employees work on Christmas Eve?"

"It wasn't really like that…" He proceeded to explain the scene that awaited him when he arrived home, earning him an 'aww, how sweet!' from his mother and a scowl from Will.

In the end, Will just rolled his eyes and waved a dismissive hand, and turning to Hunith he said, "You haven't heard Merlin perform for some time haven't you Ms. Emrys? I'm sure you'd like to hear him sing again."

The woman just smiled warmly, remembering a peaceful time when she would walk back into her suburban home to hear the light tunes of a piano and a voice she was certain belonged to an artist on the radio.

"Oh it has been a while, but I'm sure we'll have another time for that. I'm here for the entire week after all." She patted a slightly deflated Will on the arm and suppressed a giggle when the two boys exchanged a silent conversation between them.

_You're going to have to perform for her._

_I will, but not today. I've had no time to practice._

_Oh please, you don't need practice._

_You just want me to perform so you can fill up the tips jar and spend it all on gum balls._

_Ha! Gum balls? That was _so_ twenty years ago Merlin, now it's more like gummy bears._

There was a long pause before the two erupted in laughter, and Hunith found herself laughing along with them. It was as if the boys before her were five years old again and sneaking their way into the Halloween treat basket before dinner.

"Another time this week then," Will patted Merlin on the shoulder and stood up. "You'll help him stick to that promise won't you Ms. Emrys?"

"Of course William," She hid her teasing smile behind a sip of coffee knowing full well that Merlin would probably take out every single tactic out his how-to-get-myself-out-of-this-mess booklet that he'd been crafting since he was introduced to the meaning of chores.

Merlin sighed, "I can never win can I?"

"Seems not my friend," Will smiled before leaving the two in peace, taking his place behind the front counter and taking the orders of in-coming customers. The two continued to sip their coffee, enjoying the warmth from the loving atmosphere, the large fireplace in the center of the café, and each other.

"Where are we off to next, my boy?" Hunith linked their arms together as they braved the winter cold once more. Merlin looked down and gave her a bright smile.

"I thought we'd go visit The Magic Dragon."


	5. The Magic Dragon and a little TMI

_Hello hello hello!_

_Enjoy,_

_Bree Z Claire_

**_I do not own Merlin._**

* * *

The Magic Dragon was a small but homey unit, wedged somewhere in between a tea shop and an internet karaoke café in the downtown area. From the outside, it looked like any other make-shift magic shop - the gold dragon on the sign needed repainting and the 'g' in Dragon looked just about ready to fall off. But on the inside the space was expertly arranged to look like a mini mansion. Two round tables were place near the front entrance and were covered with potions, dolls, and necklaces of sorts.

The shelves lining the left and right walls of the room were filled with small books, charms, dream catchers, and other foreign objects and herbs. The back area of the shop was separated by a thin partition of beads and fabric and served as an employee lounge slash meeting area and included its own larger round table. The back wall of the employee's only room contained a large library filled with so many thick books that even with the shelves full, books had to be placed in neat stacks wherever there was available room. The large platform containing these book shelves could only be reached by climbing up a large ladder. Merlin faintly remembered climbing up and down the long ladders lining the large shelves on top of the platform, only receiving the occasional bump on the head when he hadn't been quick enough to catch himself when he slipped and fell.

Mother and son stepped out of the cold into the shelter of the warm magic shop. Merlin called, "Uncle Gaius, Auntie Alice? Anybody home?"

A little woman appeared at the door of the partition with a smile. "Merlin, is that you?" Her cornflower blue eyes searched the room before giving up. She reached into her pocket to fetch her glasses and gasped when she saw her sister-in-law and nephew, "Merlin, Hunith it is so wonderful to see you both!" She turned back briefly to beckon her husband out of the back room, probably with his nose in some old book again.

"Auntie Alice, Merry Christmas." The three, and soon four, exchanged similar greetings and many hugs before they all moved to the round table at the back of the shop.

Gaius and Alice were long-time friends and lovers and had fought equally long and hard for their life together. The two had a fairy-tale life; meeting when they were in love, separated after school, and reunited in old age to marry at last. They were a friendly couple that greeting everyone who entered their little shop (often asking for cures to their sleeping troubles or a good luck charm in hopes of passing their final exams). If Gaius was strict and valued discipline and hard work, Alice sought compassion, fun, and good health. The two complimented each other in a way that some seek for many, many years through trial and error.

"How are you my dear sister, in good health I trust?" Gaius placed his hands in Hunith's with a look of brotherly concern. Alice brushed off the dust from his royal blue robe; the only evidence of her husband's book reading adventures.

"I'm alright Gaius."

"I hope the Sorcerer's Chime I gave to you is still working well?" Alice's healing abilities were far beyond that of anything Merlin had ever seen. She could heal anything from the common cold to a broken back and did so without asking for much in return if anything at all. After all, it was still a business.

The Magic Dragon had a well known reputation that extended far across the borders of New York but only those close by in the neighbouring alleys were regulars in the little shop. It was an interesting situation that Merlin could only explain with the fact that people believed magic wasn't real. Not that Gaius, Alice, Merlin or Hunith would lead them to believe otherwise, but it was still a funny thought.

"Always has, Alice, always will."

"Wonderful." Alice turned to her nephew with a mischievous grin, "Now Merlin, when are we going to hear about that new lady friend of yours?" On a recent phone call, Merlin may or may not have let slip his little crush on Freya. He blamed the lack of coffee in his system.

Hunith perked up and said happily, "A girl?" Merlin fidgeted under her twinkling eyes. _Uh-oh, here it comes._ Gaius and Alice exchanged smiles and the onslaught began:

"Will we be meeting her any time soon?"

"What does she look like?"

"Have you asked her out yet?"

"And what about grandchildren?"

"Grandchildren? Merlin, are you ready for such a responsibility?"

"Does this girl even know about your _you-know-what_?"

"G-grandchildren?" Merlin's eye could've shot right out of their sockets then. He began flailing his arms around, completely overwhelmed. "N-no, I haven't… I mean…She's great but…I-I haven't…but...uh…"

"Oh honey it's okay. No rush." Hunith smile reassuringly.

"I just hope you're using protection." Alice said seriously. Hunith gasped and grabbed his hand.

"Merlin! You barely know this girl and already you're sleep with her?" The three stared at him as Merlin shook his head violently, holding his arms up in protection.

"N-no! Mother, it's not like that! We haven't even –"

"Oh love, I hope you're not having trouble in bed. If you need any help, I'm sure I have a remedy somewhere in the shop." Alice looked sympathetic as Gaius nodded all too knowingly.

"Erectile dysfunction affects warlocks too you know."

"OH GOD PLEASE STOP!" He was out the door in two seconds flat, cupping his ears and all but shouting at the top of his lungs 'la-la-la-la-la' like it was his new mantra, stopping briefly only because he rammed himself face-first into the glass door entrance.

_**From Will:**__ Erectile dysfunction? Really?_

Merlin stared down at the text on his phone and let his head fall back into his new La-Z-boy chair. It was his present from Lance who told him that if he was going to spend more time sleeping in his desk chair than his own bed he should at least have a top quality chair to do it in. He was still struggling to push that awkward conversation out of his head – he never wanted nor expected to hear those words from his Uncle ever - and luckily Arthur, Lance, and Gwaine were too engulfed in planning their New Years party to even notice when he came running back into their apartment. He sighed and texted back a response.

_**To Will: **__It was the most scaring thing I've ever experienced_

_**From Will:**__ What about the time with Old man Simmons and the Cabbage Patch Kids?_

_**To Will:**__ …I thought we agreed never to mention that again…_

_**From Will:**__ Just checking. What's your week looking like?_

Merlin smiled and winced at the same time. Gwaine, bless the man and his connections, managed to get Merlin interviews with as many major newspaper and magazine companies in New York he could find.

_("But…how did you…what?"_

_Gwaine winked and slapped his back. "Connections my dear lad. Merry Christmas.")_

The following week had him on back to back interviews with the _Post_, _Times_, _Daily News_, and _Wall Street Journal_. His magazine interviews ranged from _Time_ to _People_ to _Playboy_ and although Gwaine had done his best to nudge him in what he called 'the right direction,' Merlin extremely doubted he would be writing for Playboy any time soon. Merlin texted a quick response before setting his phone aside and checking his emails on the new laptop Arthur had bought him.

Really though, a La-Z-boy chair, interviews for his dream job, and a new laptop complete with its own fingerprint scanner and face recognition detector? What the hell? He'd never gotten the use to being given presents; in fact the thought always put him on edge. He was always more content giving than receiving.

With the help of Gwen and a hospital employee, Merlin had managed to gather up all the drawings from Paediatrics and Lance's office that had been drawn by children under Lance's care over the years. On his daily rounds, Lance would always take special time out of his day to visit the children, often staying just long enough to finish a story or accept the dozens of drawings that the little ones had drawn for him that day, promising he would keep them safe. It had taken Merlin almost a full week of cutting and pasting, but in the end Lance was presented with a large five-by-five foot collage square on Christmas Day. It was made in such a way that if one were to take a step back, the image of a heart – not the commercial heart of Valentine's Day, but a genuine human heart – could be seen in the center of the drawings of little cats and stick figure families.

Merlin had gingerly emptied his pockets to buy Gwaine a bottle of Domaine Romanée-Conti, which later caused the overly ecstatic flatmate to lift Merlin above his head and go on a raging rampage screaming 'For he's a jolly good fellow' over and over again. The man wasn't even drunk at the time…just very, very happy. It was a true testament to Merlin's patience and his wallet. He silently thanked Arthur for his job.

With a couple of hints from Gwaine and Lance, Merlin had bought Arthur his favourite coffee, compatible with the coffee maker Gwaine had bought him. On top of that, Merlin placed a glass jar of ungrounded coffee beans in Arthur's home office so when the man was prompted to enter his work room, ("Why am I the only one sent on a scavenger hunt Merlin?") he opened the door to a mouth watering land of happiness. Placed in the jar of coffee beans was a black, leather Aerowatch from the moon-phase 1942 collection complete with silvered guilloche with Roman numerals on the dial. In retrospect, it may not have been the brightest of ideas since Arthur spent almost all of Christmas morning holed up in his office contemplating the downfalls of eating his new watch.

He had been planning those presents for the entire year, saving up and searching for the perfect gifts. It wasn't really a question of money – Arthur had given him enough bonus' to last him a lifetime – because Merlin never really spent money, only choosing to expend his bank account when it came to writing materials which wasn't much at all since his Uncle owned so many books containing mythology and medieval times. His only concern was that he hoped his presents would be well receive, which they were. So he was happy.

Merlin was snapped out of his reverie by his buzzing phone.

_**From Will:**__ Interview during day right? Free during night?_

_**To Will:**__ Yea…no_

_**From Will:**__ No?_

_**To Will:**__ N.O. _

_**From Will:**__ I didn't ask anything yet!_

_**To Will:**__ Didn't need to. Still saying no._

_**From Will:**__ Business will go bankrupt without you L_

_**To Will:**__ ha, as if_

_**From Will:**__ You promised Hunith! _

_**To Will:**__ Maybe when you agree to my free coffee for life wish._

_**From Will:**__ Are you trying to drive business down the hole?_

_**To Will:**__ Course not. It's the only thing keep you off my back 24/7! Going to bed. Long day. Night._

_**From Will:**__ Fine, fine, ignore me! G'night_

Merlin let out a soft chuckle. He had moved to his bed during their conversation and was now feeling the pull of sleep after the long day. He had called his mother earlier, making sure she was settled at Uncle Gaius' for the night and promised he'd be there tomorrow afternoon to pick her up to bring her back to the apartment. Lance would be staying at Gwen's for the week starting tomorrow, leaving his bedroom available for Hunith. It was an easy enough argument to make since Lance already spent most of his spare time at Gwen's anyways so Hunith had agreed without too much of a fight. As he closed his eyes he settled into sweet realization that the next week would be party free and swore he'd make the best of the next seven days starting now.

But the Universe decided to be an ass instead.

_**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!**_

Gwaine's slurred speech was a battering ram on Merlin's door at three in the morning.

"Merrrrrrrwin! Come maketh some cookies wit meh!"

"…"

"Mmmeeerrr…" Gwaine's pitch gradually rose to dog-whistle frequency.

_Maybe if I don't say anything he'll leave me alone…_

"Cooooookiieess – "

"FOR CHIRST SAKES MERLIN, MAKE THE MAN SOME COOKIES SO I CAN SLEEP!" Arthur shouted angrily underneath a goose down pillow.

"Maybe leave some on the counter for us in the morning yeah?" Lance's room was next to Merlin's so it was obvious that he would've heard the entire conversation. How Arthur heard Gwaine from down the hall was a mystery.

"THAT GOES WITHOUT SAYING; NOW GET YOUR SORRY ASS OUT OF BED MERLIN!"

"Merrrwiinn!"

"Merlin?"

"_MER_LIN!"

* * *

_My mom thinks these are the Golden Boys I live with. _

_If only she knew what they put me through everyday…_

_Hi, I'm Merlin. I hope you can remember a time when 3AM was supposed to be a time for sleeping._

_Because I sure can't._

* * *

"Fuck my life…"


	6. Paper

_Hiiiii!_

_Wedding preparations, Whomping Willow envelopes, salt water...what more could you ask for?  
_

_Enjoy,_

_Bree Z Claire_

**_I do NOT own Merlin. All credit go to their respected owner.  
_**

* * *

"Ow!"

"Merlin! Not again, that's your eighth one today!"

"I can't help it. It's not my fault you chose razor sharp envelopes for your wedding invitations!"

"Well if maybe you were more careful…" Gwen reached for the pile of band-aids in the middle of the table; she'd predicted this after the third time. She peeled back the papery film and wrapped the stretchy band-aid around Merlin's thumb while the boy continued to mutter something along the lines of 'deadly paper' and 'must have been made from the Whomping Willow.' After patching up another injury, the two continued stuffing the cream coloured envelopes with Lance and Gwen's wedding invitations.

Of course Lance should've been in Merlin's place, carefully sliding the multiple invitations and menus into each envelope. But with the winter months reaching its peak, Lance had been busier than ever at the hospital, answering countless pages by the hour. So when Lance had practically battering-rammed his door down that morning with dark circles under his eyes and a pleading smile, Merlin couldn't help but say yes to helping Gwen prepare the wedding invitations in his friend's place.

"How many more of these are there?" Merlin was pretty sure he stopped producing spit half an hour ago.

"A couple hundred." Her tone was so casual that when Merlin whipped his head around to stare at her, he ended up cutting his tongue in one swift motion.

"OWW!"

"Merlin!"

"My 'ongue! My 'ongue!" He stuck his tongue out in pain, blinking back the tears threatening to come out. Gwen had sprung out of her chair at this point and was currently flailing about in a panic; she had no tongue band-aids!

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! Merlin, are you okay?" She leaned down to examine the protruding tongue. Luckily the cut wasn't deep enough to bleed much but it still looked extremely painful. The boy whined pitifully with his tongue still sticking out. "Do you want me to call Lance?"

Merlin shook his head and frowned, tongue still out. He quickly decided that all envelopes were as evil as staplers and photocopying machines. And those were pretty damn evil.

After calming Gwen down from her panic, Merlin went to the adjoining kitchen and filled a small bowl with water to use instead of spit to seal the envelopes. When he sat back down, Gwen looked slightly less miserable and even gave him a small smile.

"Are you going to keep you tongue out like that the entire time?" To this, the boy nodded. Gwen just giggled and slid another lavender invitation into its envelope. Merlin dipped his finger into the bowl of water and carefully glided it over the top flap. "Thanks again for doing this Merlin."

"No 'obem."

They continued their work in silence for a while and occasionally Merlin would try pulling his tongue back in its proper place in his month, but the harsh sting made him wince before sticking it back out again. When the sun began to fall and the room darkened, Gwen got up to flick on the light switch. Merlin didn't notice she'd stayed there by the wall until she spoke.

"Sometimes I don't know…" Merlin turned to stare at her for while, head cocked to the side. He knew that look all too well. When Gwen was deep in thought, her brow would furrow slightly and an angular frown replaced her usual smile. He didn't have to see her face to know she was biting her bottom lip, contemplating how to continue. "I love him with all my heart, Merlin, I really do. But sometimes I wonder…"

They had stopped and started this conversation so often that Merlin knew Gwen was talking about Lance's life as a doctor. The late nights, irregular hours, and piling office work strained both partners of a relationship.

"It's not like I want him to be around all the time! But…he spends so much time reading documents and making phone calls. Especially at this time of year, I just wish he was a little bit more available, we have a wedding coming up Merlin! And what about when we have children? Granted, it'll be very useful having a Paediatrician in the house for that…but what if—what about—oh Merlin what do I do?" At this point, Gwen had seated herself back down, next to Merlin at the corner of the table.

"Umm…"

"Do you think we're rushing into things?" Merlin rolled his eyes. The two had been practically married from the first time they laid eyes on each other. He couldn't imagine two people more perfect for each other than Lance and Gwen. "I haven't even decided on the on flower arrangements yet."

"Boo 'n' reh?"

Gwen tsked and gently punched her friend in the arm. "You are your blue and red." She sighed and took Merlin's hand in hers. "I just need to know that I won't end up regretting this. That when Lance and I get a house together I won't be left alone with the baby all day while he's going off tending to someone else's children. We haven't even lived together Merlin! Sure, your apartment is closer to his work which I understand completely. And he needs to be close just in case, but what if we move in together and I find all these habits about him that tick me off? What if – What if he likes clipping his toe nails at the dinner table?"

Merlin gave her a look.

"Right…he doesn't do that. But what if – "

"'Wen!" She paused and looked expectantly at her friend. They'd been together all through university and knew each other's quirks almost too well. Merlin stopped her before she snowballed into a full on ramble. "You 'ov him ahh?"

"I love him with all my heart."

"He 'ovs you woo." He gave her a looked that said _isn't that all that matters? Whatever you're worry about; it'll all work out because you two belong together._

"Oh Merlin, thank you." She leaned into give him a warm hug. After a moment, she giggled and said, "I can't believe I can still understand you." Merlin rolled his eyes again and Gwen sat back in her chair. "You look utterly ridiculous."

Merlin crossed his arms and made an angry sound, "I 'ate enalopes!"

"I don't think it's healthy for you to eat envelopes sweetie," she teased.

"'Ate! 'Ate! Not eat, 'ate!" and she would've taken him seriously if his tongue hadn't been flying about and his arms flailing just as crazily. Gwen bursted out laughing and only stopped when Merlin knocked over the bowl of water, causing it to spill over half the remaining invitations.

"MERLIN!"

"Oops…awrry!"

**_~ xXx ~_**

Merlin opened the door to his flat with a huff, his tongue still sticking out. After another few hours at Gwen's, he had gotten use to the feeling and hardly noticed it until he began walking home and strangers on the street were giving him strange looks. He had managed to bring it in slightly more than before so he didn't look completely stupid.

"Well don't you look completely stupid?" Arthur looked at him from his spot on the couch, closing the folder he was reading. Merlin glared back before slipping off his coat and hanging it on the coat rack. "What happened to you?"

"Paper wut."

Arthur raised a brow. "Paper cut." The boy nodded. "On you tongue."

The boy made a gesture to indicate something along the lines of '_well duh_.'

Arthur exhaled sharply before getting up and heading to the kitchen, gesturing Merlin to follow along. The smaller boy sat down at the kitchen island and put his head in his hands, frowning when the blond man stirred a few spoonfuls of salt into a glass of water. He groaned in disgust. Arthur slid the cup in front of him and leaned on the table, watching.

"Here. Gargle with this and it'll help disinfect the cut. You should be back to looking like your usual idiotic self in no time."

"Mo."

"It worked last time."

"Mo."

"Well we can't bloody well put a band-aid over it now can we?" Arthur rolled his eyes and pushed the cup forward even more. "Gargle."

"Eh 'urrs!" Merlin frowned harder, hoping it would compensate for his protruding tongue.

"_Mer_lin –"

"Merlin, you're home!" Gwaine jogged down the stairs with a grin. Merlin couldn't imagine anyone but Gwaine able to wear sweatpants and look good, but someone Gwaine just seemed to be the guy who pulled off everything. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he wore no shirt most of the time. Merlin could easily trace the outline of every one ab on his stomach with his eyes.

Gwaine paused at the foot of the stairs, giving Merlin a confused look. "Why is he sticking his tongue out at me?" He asked Arthur.

"I 'ave a payer wut."

Gwaine blinked. "…come again?"

"Merlin here, the idiot, managed to get a paper cut on his tongue." He gave a disapproving look to the boy in the chair. Gwaine just smiled and wrapped an arm around his friend.

"Need me to kiss it better for you lad?"

"Mo!" Merlin said at the same time Arthur barked a strong "No!"

Gwaine just shrugged, "Your loss. You know where to find me if you change your mind." He gave a small wink at Merlin and headed back upstairs after grabbing a cup of coffee. The remaining two sat in silence and Merlin closed his eyes briefly; it was getting late and he wanted his bed. When he opened his eyes again, he caught Arthur giving him a death glare – he must have practiced those for the court room.

"Wha?" he snapped.

"Gargle!" he jabbed a finger at the glass.

"Mo!"

"Either you gargle with it or I'll drown you in it Merlin."

"'Ow will 'at 'helph ee?"

"It won't help you, but it'll sure give me some peace of mind." He smiled evilly.

"You 'on't 'ave an appipan any ore."

Arthur looked up thoughtfully for a while before smiling slightly. "You're right Merlin; it'll take too much time to break in a new assistant now won't it?" He turned away and sat down in his spot on the couch and Merlin sighed in relief when he thought Arthur had dropped the subject. Arthur flipped a page before speaking again and Merlin could practically hear the smirk that came with it.

"Of course, if you come into work Monday morning looking like that, I may be forced to tell everyone what happened. Wonder what _Freya_ might think of you when she hears you cut your tongue on a little piece of paper and cried like a little girl?"

"I 'in't rye!"

"Oh yes Merlin, you cried like a little baby all night long."

"Arur!"

"Gargle!"

Without another word, Merlin swiped the glass off the counter and filled his mouth with the salty liquid. After the initial taste, he was overwhelmed by the stinging pain when the water seeped into his wound. It burnt like fire and he struggled to blink back the tears. He swished the water around his mouth until he couldn't stand it anymore, and spat it out in the sink. He gargled with tap water until he could no longer taste the salt at the back on his throat. Arthur came over and patted him on the back, looking both condescending and triumphant at the same time.

"Good boy."

Merlin glared.

_Ass._

_****__~ xXx ~_  


When Monday morning rolled around, Merlin was back to his un-protruding self. Despite the evil of salt water, it worked wonders and by the next morning, Merlin could properly pronounce his words with minimal wincing. He was just finishing up some phone calls before lunch when Freya walked by. He hadn't seen her since the New Years party.

"Good morning Merlin."

"Morning Freya! What's up?"

"Nothing really, what about you? I heard you had some interviews last week for some newspaper companies." She gave him a warm smile and Merlin couldn't help but smile back.

"Yeah, I think they all went pretty well. I'm still trying to get use to the whole idea of writing articles instead of novels. Gwaine got me in touch with some publishers as well that seem interested in some of the books I've been working on."

"That's wonderful Merlin! It's what you've always wanted right, to become a famous novelist or journalist?"

"Yeah, definitely! And having a chance at journalism wouldn't hurt either, it's just…" he trailed off and shifted his glace to Arthur's office window. He wondered how Arthur would react if he left to work somewhere else. They both agreed this arrangement would be a temporary job from the start. Arthur had little time to interview new assistants he desperately needed, and Merlin desperately needed the money especially if he were to eventually get some books published.

He knew that working somewhere else wouldn't pay as well but wouldn't it be worth it? He'd wanted to go into writing ever since getting out of university, but while Gwen had been swept up by countless offers – and had the poise and confident air to pull off a professional interview – Merlin had been busy trying to make ends meet, pay back his student loans, and trying to find somewhere to live now that he could no longer live on campus.

"Merlin?" Freya looked worried. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine Freya, really! Don't worry about me." He smiled the best he could.

"Well…okay…"

"Did you want to grab lunch in a bit?" And just like that, Freya was smiling again.

"Oh yes, of course!"

"I just need to make a few more calls before I'm free. See you then?"

"I'll see you then." She nodded and happily made her way to the elevator. Merlin watched her, barely noticing Arthur's presence beside him until a ball of paper dropped on his head.

"Hey!"

"I need you to reschedule my lunch appointment for Thursday." Arthur briefly looked up from the folder he was reading. "Leon had an emergency so he can't make the meeting today." Leon was one of Arthur's close friend as well as his current associate.

"Sure." Merlin frowned and picked up the paper ball, setting it on his desk so he could throw it in the recycling later instead of the garbage.

Arthur whacked him over the head with his folder. "Ow! Arthur, what the hell?"

"What's wrong with you? I thought you'd be head over heels getting lunch with Freya. You do realize you have me to thank for that don't you?"

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about." He said lamely as he rubbed his head.

"Without that salt water you'd still be mumbling nonsense every time you opened your mouth."

"You seemed to understand me just fine."

"That's because I've adjusted to your idiotic nonsense already."

Merlin just hummed and pressed a phone to his ear. Arthur stood by silently waiting for him to finish the call, occasionally picking up the paper ball and bouncing it off Merlin's head for amusement.

"What do you _want_ Arthur?"

"What's with the long face?"

"I'm just…thinking."

"About?"

"Stuff." He got up and tugged on his jacket.

"Are you thinking about taking that job at _The Post_?"

Oh.

Merlin paused, not quite sure what to do. Ever since Gwaine had talked to him about the interviews, Merlin hadn't had the heart to talk about it with Arthur or even mentioning it near the man. He wondered if it was against some company policy to go on interviews while still employed. "I…umm. I'm not sure."

Arthur was silent, turning the paper in his hand slowly. It seemed like hours before he looked up with a smile. It was small, but Merlin could see the strain behind the frown threatening to come out. He took a breath before tucking in his chair, pushing down his guilt.

"Of course, I wouldn't leave you unless I was sure you'd be taken care of. God knows how picky you are about your morning coffee, your filing cabinet, your crosswords and strange attention to the unbelievably tiny bits of detail –"

"That attention to detail saved this company from being robbed last year! Remind me to have a serious discussion with those accountants tomorrow by the way." Merlin scribbled the notice on a notepad before plowing on.

"You won't eat Tic-Tac's unless they're in odd numbers, you won't leave the window open unless there are two in a room, and you freak out whenever someone uses the little eraser at the end of the pencil!"

"_Mer_lin."

"Yes?"

"Shut up." With that, Arthur tossed the paper ball at Merlin's forehead. But before he could grab it again on the ricochet, Merlin swiped it away.

"Are you done?" Arthur raised a brow and crossed his arms. "My point is…I'm not going to leave until I'm sure there's someone capable of taking care of your stupid compulsive needs. You'd probably end up imploding on yourself if you didn't have Melba toast at four in the afternoon."

"With tea." Arthur corrected.

"With tea. I have another meeting tomorrow with a publisher. If I go into the author business I might not even have to quit so should be grateful!" Merlin smiled and tossed the paper ball high in the air. By the time Arthur fumbled backwards to grab it again, his assistant was already half-way to the elevator. The lawyer turned the ball around in his hand with warm eyes and a smile.

"No one could take your place Merlin. No one."


	7. A Valentine's Special

_Dear loved ones,_

_Perfect Valentine's gift? Candy. 'Nuff said.  
_

_Enjoy,_

_Bree Z Claire_

**_I do NOT own Merlin. All credit go to their respected owner._**

* * *

"_Give me back my Rolos!"_

"_Not until you tell me where you hid my kettle corn!"_

It was movie night at the Prat Apartment of Pratliness. Gwaine, Lance, Gwen, and Elyan had come over to sit back and relax after a hard week's worth of work. Arthur, Merlin, Leon, Morgana, and Percival were the last ones to trickle in and after receiving the expected 'what took you so long' and 'sit down so we can start the movie already' grumblings, they all quickly chose their spots either on the couches or huddled together on the floor where Lance and Gwen had set out soft mats for people to sit on. Pillows and blankets were scattered across the floor creating a sea of welcomed fluffiness and comfort for the movie goers.

As a strike to Valentine's Day (and the raging blizzard outside), the group decided to stay in and watch movies instead of their usual hitting the town and drinking the night away. Merlin couldn't help but feel a warm sensation hug him from all around whenever he took a moment to glance at the people around him and see what his life had become. He wished they could stay like this forever.

They were just easing their way into the _Notebook_ – no one dared deny Morgana the first pick because that woman was damn scary when she wanted to be – and people were already picking out their desired munchies. Merlin, who had been nibbling away at some cookies Gwen baked, began searching around for his kettle corn, which was his favourite movie snack. It took him all of two minutes of wrinkling wrappers and a laugh disguised as a cough for Merlin to know something was up.

Mumbling around the cookie half eaten in his mouth, Merlin asked, "Where's my kettle corn?" He turned back accusingly at Arthur, who just smiled innocently and popped another Rolo into his mouth.

"Why, whatever do you mean Merlin?" Arthur cocked his head to the side.

"Kettle corn. I always have kettle corn for movie nights. Where is it?

"How should I know?" The man rolled his eyes. It was common knowledge that Merlin liked his kettle corn for movies just as much as Arthur loved his Rolos, Gwaine his too-buttery-popcorn, and Lance his Swedish Berries. Merlin narrowed his eyes, not in the least bit fooled by his friend's behaviour. He ignored Gwen and Lance's helpful suggestion ("Maybe they're still in the pantry?") and Morgana's soft hushes and glared.

"This is because I drank the last of your coffee the other morning isn't it?"

It was an unfortunate, albeit delicious, accident in which Merlin had been too sleepy-eyed one morning to notice which coffee packet he was putting into the coffee machine. As it turned out, he had put in the last of Arthur's favourite 'one-sip-and-you'll-never-go-back-to-anything-but-this' coffee that the man never let anyone one else touch or even go near and the man had been less than thrilled when he came downstairs to realize his precious life energy was all gone.

The moment Merlin realized what he had done, Arthur was already stomping out the door leaving Merlin to hurry in his wake less he be forced to walk to work after a freak snow storm the night before. After endless apologizing in the car and spending his lunch break personally buying Arthur a new supply, Arthur was finally talking to him again and had seemingly forgiven Merlin.

Evidently he hadn't.

Merlin glared at the man now, watching him pop one Rolo after the other carelessly into his smirking mouth, and knew without a doubt that he was responsible for this madness. Drinking Arthur's coffee by accident was one thing, but holding Merlin's kettle corn as hostage during a movie? That was like… that was like… well there just wasn't anything bigger than that now was there?

He snatched the packet of chocolate out of Arthur's hand and tactfully dodged a grab when the man swung at him, managing a tuck-and-roll under Gwaine's legs where they had been propped on the table. He scrambling up and ran back until he braced himself on the island to keep from sliding across the kitchen tile and landing on his back. A glance back at Arthur showed the man to be right on his tail and Merlin nimbly dodged another tackle and rounded the kitchen counter again. He silently congratulated himself for not wearing socks because from the way Arthur slipped and dived head first into one of the cupboards, socks in the kitchen was a hazard. His mother's warnings finally made sense to him then.

They ran circles around the kitchen island until they both stopped, now on opposite sides of the countertop, and gave each other death glares.

"Give me back my Rolos!"

"Not until you tell me where you hid my kettle corn."

"Surrender the Rolos or face dire consequences!"

"Or what? You're going to sit on me?" A look from Arthur ensured him that yes; yes he would sit on him. Merlin's mocking smile drooped slightly at the thought.

"Oh boys," Morgana called in a sing-song sort of voice. There was, however, a familiar threatening tone when Merlin cautioned a glance over Arthur's shoulder at the woman. "As much as I'm enjoying your hidden love for each other expressed through colourful banter, the movie is still rolling." She waved her hand about, gesturing the two of them to take the seats or else. Leon snatched the bowl of popcorn out of her hands with a snicker.

"Men fight, Morgana, it's in our blood."

"Besides, watching these two duke it out is a thousand times better than this," Gwaine threw some popcorn at the TV screen, as if it would actually make Ryan Gosling lose his grip on the ferris wheel and plummet to the ground below. Gwen gasped indignantly and Lance leaned down to kiss her hair after chuckling low. His fiancé giggled and fed him another berry.

When Arthur spoke again his voice was a low growl and Merlin had to bite his cheek to keep from laughing at how serious he took his Rolos. Although, he wasn't exactly one to talk considering how he'd started this whole ordeal. But in his defence, it was kettle corn for crying out loud! Rainbow Moose Magic Kettle Corn in six different kinds of colourful fruit-flavoured goodness!

"_Mer_lin…"

"Kettle corn."

Arthur grew impatient and leapt over the countertop – yes, _over_ the countertop – and soon the two were running circles around the kitchen island screaming left and right while the others seated in the living room area looked on with amused smiles and barely contained laughter. Leon cheered on Arthur while the Gwaine and Morgana whooped at Merlin encouragingly. Lance and Gwen were too busy laughing to make any calls and Elyan and Percival were in the midst of making wagers on who would win this little battle. Somewhere along the hoots and hollers, the movie was paused in lieu of a less Valentine's Day type entertainment.

"Hand them over you conniving little weasel!" Arthur was now a blur of blond hair as he chased Merlin round and round - and sometimes across - the table.

"Not on your life you stubborn, praty, dollophead!"

"Pigeon-brain!"

"Hat rack!"

"Elephant ears!"

"Donkey-arse!"

"_MER_-lin!"

"Clotpole!"

"I'll snap you like a toothpick!" Arthur lunged and grabbed Merlin by the hood of his sweater and the boy yelped, more in surprise than in pain – when did Arthur get this fast? The two of them froze with Arthur half sprawled on the table, an apple or two rolled off the table from the tipped over fruit bowl. Merlin flailed his arms for balance, keeping himself on his feet by shear willpower alone. "Give. Me. My. Rolos."

Merlin popped a chocolate into his mouth and Arthur's eyes grew wide. Merlin swirled the caramel around his tongue before managing a mumbled, "Give me my kettle corn first." When Arthur didn't answer, he popped another into his mouth.

"Oh that is _it_!" and before he knew it, Merlin was wrestled to the ground with Arthur seating himself right over top of him. He struggled and tried to turn over but the man had grabbed his hands and pinned them behind his back, which he was now sitting on. Merlin still had one hand around the chocolate wrapper so now; Arthur sat happily on the smaller man, keeping Merlin's one arm twisted behind his back while using the other one to pop chocolates into his mouth via Merlin's hand. Arthur hummed happily as he finished off the last bit and turn his attention back to the struggling body underneath him.

"Get off of me." Merlin huffed and puffed. Arthur laughed.

"Not so tough now are you, little mouse?" the man teased, poking Merlin in the side with his free hand so the boy underneath would jerk sideways. Merlin cursed himself inwardly for being so damn ticklish at his sides.

"And yet, still more intelligent than you, you big rhino."

Arthur laughed, both impressed and surprised, and twisted Merlin's arm, making the younger man grunt but causing him no real pain. Eventually Merlin tired out and slumped flat on the floor glaring at Arthur with a defeated look. Arthur looked down at him with a smirk and with his free arm reached back somewhere Merlin couldn't see to produce a small handful of kettle corn. Merlin gasped as Arthur began popping one after the other into his mouth – purple, blue, yellow, green - and was certain he was going to eat them all until Arthur pushed the last one against Merlin's lips and the boy engulfed the poofy red treat it like it'd be his last meal ever.

"For Heaven sakes Arthur, get off him." Morgana tossed a handful of popcorn but they landed, uselessly, a few feet away from the boys.

"Yeah mate, let the poor boy up for some air." Gwaine called from the couch.

"You weight practically three times more than the poor boy!"

"I think he's learned his lesson, haven't you Merlin?" Leon failed to keep the amusement out of his sympathetic tone. The only answer he received from the boy was a strangled grunt when Merlin started choking on the piece of popcorn Arthur had given him. Arthur patted him lightly on the back, shifting just enough so his weight rested less on Merlin's chest and more on his lower back.

"Deep breaths, Merlin, and swallow." Lance supplied helpfully with true sympathy for his friend. When the coughing subsided, Merlin stared up at Arthur's stupidly satisfied face and suppressed the urge to turn him into a toad.

"Are you going to get off me of what?"

"No, I think I rather enjoy the view from here."

"Arthur!"

The man leaned down with a smirk. "Are you going to steal my Rolos again?"

"No."

"Are you going to stay away from my coffee from now on?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to borrow my belts from my closet without permission?"

"Damn…I didn't think you noticed. Fine, no!"

"You're going to stop taking my strawberries from my mini-fridge."

"Fine."

"You're going to stop changing the filing orders every month 'just to keep things interesting' when we all know it's just to piss me off!"

"Alright."

"You're going to start sleeping at normal hours."

"Yeah, yeah."

"You're going to stop leaving your plates out for me to clean up."

"Okay!"

"You're going to make crepes tomorrow morning."

"Fine!"

"You're going to do my laundry for the next two months."

"Okay! Wait, what no—" He tried to protest but Arthur just slapped him heavily on the back, knocking the breath, and whatever argument he had, right out of him.

"Good! A verbal contract is binding in the state of New York." He said with a tone of finality.

Arthur rose from Merlin and tossed the bag of kettle corn at the little figure still lying on the floor. He nudged him in the side, causing the younger man to yelp, and this time it was Arthur's turn to do the dodging. He laughed and jumped over the couch to reclaim his spot on the floor in the corner of the L-shaped couch and began un-wrapping another packet of Rolos. Merlin came over shortly and slumped down next to him, clutching his kettle corn for dear life, shooting Arthur a warning glance which made the man roll his eyes.

"Woo! Crepes tomorrow!" Gwaine fist pumped the air and turned back to the screen. Morgana paused a brief moment before reaching down to smack them both on the head with the remote.

"Oww!"

"Morgana!"

She glared at the two. "Now if you're both finished with your ranting and raving, can we please get back to the movie? An epic love story is about to unfold!"

After a number of groans from the group and a glare from Morgana, the movie resumed and everyone sunk back into their spots. Lance had himself and Gwen wrapped up in one blanket and it didn't take long before the sounds Gwen's gentle breath deepened into sleep. To Merlin's left, Percival and Elyan were sprawled on the long side of the white leather couch, passing a bowl of popcorn back and forth while exchanging companionable conversation here and there. Gwaine, Morgana and Leon sat on the couch section behind Merlin and Arthur; the two latter's were trying and failing to keep their 'hidden' flirting at bay. Gwaine still had his legs propped up on the table to Merlin's right and Merlin sometimes leaned his head over to rest during the boring parts of the movie. Arthur sat to his left, popping Rolo after Rolo.

Somewhere halfway through to the end, Merlin found himself half on Gwaine's legs and half on Arthur's lap as he sat parallel to the glass table. Arthur, at Merlin's feet, would reach over from time to time, sneaking a few pieces of kettle corn from Merlin's bag and Merlin would tug at Arthur's sleeve until he surrendered a Rolo.

It was nowhere near Merlin's favourite holiday, not by a long shot – Freya had responded with an apologetic 'no' when he asked her to attend their movie night but the two had grabbed a Valentine's Day lunch instead. Merlin was disappointed. It seemed like lunch dates were all they had time for. Nevertheless, being here surrounded by his close friends - who had at one point turned into the brothers and sisters he never had - Merlin couldn't help but feel the warmth in his heart reach out through his entire body.

If it wasn't in the way Gwaine would reach down and tweak his ears every now and then, it was in the way Arthur and Percival helped carry him back to his bed when he'd fallen asleep during the climax of the movie. He'd grown accustomed to the way Gwen kiss his forehead good night whenever he got sick and the rare, protective authority in Lance's voice when Merlin would twist his ankle coming the stairs when it was really too early in the morning for a normal human to function properly.

He was both enlightened and inspired by Elyan, publisher of _The Post_, who didn't press Merlin into working for him but instead gave him every opportunity to ask questions and would even offer him advice. He learned that Morgana was just as scary as Arthur when she got mad, and while the two siblings were constantly at each other's neck, the two genuinely cared about each other. He learned how loyal Leon was to his friends, and had the joy of hearing about all the mischief he, Arthur, and Lance had gotten into back in school much to Arthur's chagrin and Lance's horror.

Merlin snuggled deeper into his pillow with a smile. Life here in Manhattan had turned out to be so much more than he'd ever hoped for when he first arrived. The young little boy sitting on the bleachers drowning in the jock's homework seemed but a shadow of who he had grown into now. He had a family to protect him, and a home to call his own. So Merlin breathed a deep sigh and relaxed, hoping to catch a few hours of sleep before he had to wake up and make crepes for everyone in the morning. Because under the safety of his blanket, the security of his home, and the warmth of his friends downstairs, he knew he'd found love in its purest form this Valentine's Day.


	8. Karaoke Intermission

_Hello everyone,_

_Today we have a prequel episode!  
_

_Enjoy,_

_Bree Z Claire_

**_I do NOT own Merlin. All credit go to their respected owner._**

* * *

The group of them sat around the table at their favourite bar, brooding and sharing in each others blue mood. At the other side of the room came sounds of karaoke singers happily butchering what they called 'music' but the group of men just hung their heads and drank their beer. After their first few rounds and after Lance and Leon got up to fetch another, three familiar shadows made their way past the tables and into the dim light that hung over the men's table.

"Oh – oh God - you boys make me sad." Morgana pulled up a chair, looking as if it pained her physically to see her friends in the state there were in. There was a simultaneous wince around the table as chairs were shifted unsubtly away from the terrifying woman. There was a silent moment filled with a terrible rendition of _Eye of the Tiger_ before another voice joined them.

"What is with this sob-fest?" Will leaned against the back of Morgana's chair, not even trying to hide the grin on his face from seeing Arthur so miserable. Merlin repressed a sigh; only Will and Morgana would bond over torturing Arthur. He elbowed his friend but only succeeded in pushing Will out of the way in time for Lance and Leon to return with another round. The group of men – Arthur, Lance, Leon, Percival, Gwaine and Elyan – reached for their beers immediately. After chugging about half his drink, Arthur rubbed his eyes and spoke.

"What are you two even doing here?" He didn't have the strength to throw a jibe at Morgana tonight.

Gwaine, who sat beside him, nodded. "Don't you two have homework to do?"

"Or a paper due?" Percival grumbled.

Merlin and Will rolled their eyes in unison. It was an on-running joke that the six older men teased the two younger, freshly graduated students about their age ever since Merlin had taken up residence with Arthur, Lance and Gwaine. Any other night, the two would've bit back with equally witty remarks about 'it's not a school night, dad' and 'don't laugh too hard grandpa, wouldn't want you to beak a rib' jokes but tonight they just let it go.

It wasn't too hard to figure out what the men were so glum about. When Merlin checked his calendar today and saw the upcoming dates – many of the men shared close birthdays and a whole bunch of them were coming up soon – his first thoughts floated to where Arthur and his group would be heading tonight to drown away their sorrows.

But not wanting to spend the entire night trying to consolidate his flatmates and friends, he called up Will so the two could hang out later on. That, and if Will found out Merlin had left him to go to a bar while Will was left back home alone, reeling after a long day of work, he'd probably get shot. Of course Morgana tagged along, eager to see her brother in such a state. So the three met up and headed out together.

It was hard to believe how he and Will had stayed together for so long after all these years. They'd grown up together in their small home town and had moved away to university together as well, Will going into business and Merlin going into journalism. Thick as thieves they were, and back home they'd been called as much. Wreaking havoc on Old man Simmons' farm and pulling pranks everywhere in the neighbourhood until Merlin's mom grabbed them by the ears, together with William's mother, and sat the two down for two very long lectures. Will often swore the lectures were so long you could see the season begin to change.

"C'mon you lot, cheer up. It's not that bad!" Merlin smiled but was only met with a round-table of death glares.

"Easy for you to say." Leon muttered and took another drink from his mug.

"If you asked me I'd say you chumps were over reacting. I mean, I'm totally psyched to turn twenty-five in a couple of — Ow hey!" There was a hailstorm of peanuts as the two younger men were pelted out of sheer spite of their age. Merlin cursed Will and his big mouth. Morgana, mostly unphased, boredly picked out peanuts from her cleavage.

"Get out!" Percy growled.

"Get out right now!" Gwaine pointed towards the exit and together the two men threatened to get out of their chairs and throw them out. Lance waved a hand, as did Arthur, but it was Morgana that spoke out.

"Well, as much as I would love to sit and wallow in self pity like you," she earned a few glares with that. "I have a girl's night with Gwen." She promptly rose from her chair and made her way out the door while making more than a few heads turn as she left. Merlin would've been convinced that she took full pleasure in seeing her brother and friends mope if it hadn't been for her last whispered words in his ear asking him to help cheer them up.

"C'mon guys, we can't blame them." Even Lance spoke half-heartedly. Arthur nodded.

"Yes." Then he held up his index finger. "But we can, however, force Merlin to make us breakfast for the next two months until all the painful birthdays have passed." And to this, all the men smirked as Merlin slumped into Morgana's empty chair.

"Turning thirty can't be that bad." He raised a brow.

"How about we bring this up when _you_ turn thirty alright mate?" Percival waved a chicken wing at him and soon the table resorted back to minimal talking and moping men. When it seemed that they'd all be lost for good, Lance spoke up softly.

"Plus…it's not just that…"

Merlin turned to Lance and realized the genuine slump to Lance's shoulders even though he was part of the half who didn't even have their birthday this half of the year.

"So why _are_ you here? What's going on?" Lance's shoulders slumped even more –apparently it was possible- and around the table, all of them followed suit in their own way. Leon frowned; Gwaine looked down at his beer, as did Arthur, while Elyan and Percival hid themselves behind their hands or their food.

"Gwen and I had a fight…"

"Morgana broke things off…again…"

"I might not make senior partner at the law firm." Arthur stared down at the table.

"I just got fired from _The Crow_." Elyan mumbled.

"Lamorak is in the hospital again." Lamorak, Merlin knew, was Percival's brother who, while usually kept calm and at bay by his brothers, enjoyed the bar scene a little too much and often got into one too many fights. This often landed him in the hospital, much to the strain of the family's hearts.

"Oh boy-" Merlin hadn't realize how much shit he was in for until now. He rubbed the back of his neck and tried to think of a way to cheer up his friends.

"I'm turning thirty…fucking thirty!" Even Gwaine, the joker and womanizer of the group seemed zapped of energy and had seemingly no idea of the group of young ladies pointing and giggling at the table of handsome men. Will, sharing Gwaine's love for the ladies, picked up on this and began bouncing around anxiously.

"Alright, enough's enough. Merlin _do_ something!" He looked down at his friend and punched him in the arm. Merlin shot him a look as if to say, _like what?_

_Use your special ability to cheer up these sad bags of sap!_

'_Special ability?' What special ability?_

_You know…_ Will made a gesture with his head towards the corner of the room where a couple were singing some cheesy love song. After a moment, Merlin huffed a sigh and got up.

"'Special ability' my ass." But if it would help his friends, why not?

"It always seems to bring in the customers at the Café." Will shrugged and looked around the table of sad men who seemed indifferent to their little exchange. "Besides…it's worth a try. They look as if their favourite puppy just died for crying out loud! It's killing my buzz."

Merlin looked around the table as well and smiled sympathetically. "Alright then." He rolled his eyes and made his way to the karaoke machine and towards the mic. It wasn't until his voice amplified throughout the room that the group of men turned.

"Shit, he's not going to start singing 'Happy Birthday' is he?" Gwaine sunk low in his chair – his birthday was the first of the group. Merlin cleared his throat and tapped the mic for good measure before giving his friends a sincere smile.

"Umm…Hi, I'm Merlin and I'd like to dedicate this to my friends and anyone else who's going through a tough time right now." He blushed, just like he always did when the spotlight was on him, but continued on nonetheless. "I know that things may seem at its lowest right now but it's important to know that no matter how dark the clouds may get, we'll always have our friends to pull us through to the end." With a small nod to the DJ, the light sounds of a guitar filled the room. The spotlight widened as Merlin took a moment to focus before opening his eyes, blue eyes sparkling in the light.

_We could just go home right now  
Or maybe we could stick around  
For just one more drink  
Oh yeah_

_Get another bottle out_  
_Let's shoot the shit, Sit back down_  
_For just one more drink_  
_Oh yeah_

He casually swiped a beer bottle from a passing waitress and raised it in the air, singing out every word and hoping they'd get through to everyone in the room including his friends. The lights above him swirled and flashed in patterns of green, blue, reds and yellows as spirits began to rise. From where he stood, he could just make out Will moving to the beat and clapping along with his hands high in the air, Merlin couldn't help but smile. Soon enough, the crowd was clapping along too until Merlin held up his hands, bringing things down again.

His eyes scanned the table his friends sat at and made sure to lock eyes with each and every one of them. He was relieved to find them staring up at him, first in quiet shock then in awe, with small smiles of their face as Merlin sung to them. He raised his bottle to each of them with a wide grin and gave a little shrug because he'd never told any of them that he could sing.

_Here's to us  
Here's to love  
All the times that we've messed up  
Here's to you  
Fill the glass  
Cause the last few nights have kicked my ass  
If they give you hell  
Tell them "Go fuck themselves!"  
Here's to us  
Here's to us  
_

And over the next few months, things _would_ get better. Merlin had always believed that there was a silver lining to every storm and a hopeful light at the end of every dark tunnel.

Soon enough, Lance would propose, bringing Gwen to break down in tears of joy and happy laughter and while Leon didn't know it yet, Lance and Gwen's wedding would be where he and Morgana began to rekindle their mismatched relationship. Arthur, despite his fears and doubts, would become a great managing partner of Pendragon LLC., one of New York's largest law firms and Elyan would quickly progress to the title of publisher of the_ New York Post_.

Lamorak, as always, recovered and while his fiery temper would never completely subdue, the pleas of his younger sister, Elaine, left him feeling a tad guilty whenever he went on his nightly escapades. Upon his return home, she'd sneak into his bed late one night wearing her little princess gown to check up on her big brother. He promised soon after he'd hold back for her sake.

As for Gwaine…well there wasn't much that could be done about his age, but after the group all pitched in for a trip to Barbados, life seemed a bit better for the newly turned thirty-year-old._  
_

_Here's to us  
Here's to love  
Here's to us  
Wish everybody well_

_Here's to us_  
_Here's to love_  
_Here's to us_

_Here's to us_


	9. Cabal

_Hello lovely readers!_

_So this chapter was written for two reasons. One: my friend recently got a puppy and I found it as perfect inspiration for Two: the name Cabal in the Arthurian Legends referred to Arthur's most trusted canine companion and I've been trying for a while to make a fic out of that. Anyways, here you go!_

_Enjoy,_

_Bree Z Claire_

**_I don't own Merlin. All rights go to their respected owners. No copyright infringement is intended._**

**_PS - I'm not quite sure the breed to dog Cabal was originally supposed to be, but I do know it's supposedly a large breed which makes sense. In this fic I'm modelling Cabal after the __Anatolian Shepherd Dog_. If anyone has tidbits of trivia regarding Arthur's Cabal, I'd love to hear :) .  
**

* * *

Merlin, Arthur knew, had always been somewhat of a push-over. Not in the way that suggested he'd been backed into a wall with nothing left to say but 'yes' but such in the way that if he couldn't help someone, he'd feel more let down than the person he was supposedly helping. It really was one of his biggest faults, even though that same cheerful attitude left those around him with beaming smiles to match his.

Arthur had witnessed this overly-helpful behaviour on more than one occasion. He'd been pulled over on their way to work because Merlin wanted to help some men load their delivery truck. He'd been stopped on the street because Merlin wanted to spare some change to a little girl wanting to ride the mechanical pony in front of a local barber shop. He was forced to buy both his and Merlin's morning coffee for months at a time because the sappy dope had given away all his money to a charity of some sort or to his uncle's shop to buy more books and other miscellaneous objects.

Recently he'd sat through multiple sleepless nights because Merlin had insisted on being there for Lance, listening to speech after speech with an unwavering smile on his face. Lance was invited to be a keynote speaker at a doctoral conference and had spent the last week and a half preparing for his week away. Day and night. Hours at a time. With his deep voice loudly projecting through the drywall. Gwen, of course, was there for him as well, taking a much needed break from wedding plans and leaving her mother with some final touches.

No, it wasn't a surprise that Merlin loved to help others and gained genuine contentment in doing so. But there were days when Arthur hated that side of Merlin.

Hated it with a burning passion in his gut.

"So let me get this straight," The lawyer stood with his arms crossed, staring daggers at his friend who seemed to be very interested with the floor at the moment. "On the same day that you leave for your two-week-long vacation back home with Will, you decide to bring home _this_?" He pointed down at the large lump of fur curled up at their feet.

"Percival said it needed a home!" Merlin looked up with large blue eyes and brought his hands together in plea.

"If Percival asked you to jump off a bridge, would you?" He threw his arms up. There was no way in Hell he was getting stuck with this.

"Oh c'mon Arthur, it's just till I get back. I'll take care of it after that, I promise!"

"Why don't you give to Lance as an engagement present?"

"Well…I would, but Gwen's not really a dog person…Please Arthur, please? After I'm back you won't have to worry about it ever again, I promise! I train him and everything!"

"Why do I find that incredibly difficult to believe? That was rhetorical!" Arthur growled out the last bit when Merlin opened his mouth to reply. "Do you have any idea what it takes to care for an animal like this?"

"It's just a little puppy," Merlin cooed and crouched down the pet the little animal, which really must have been from Percival because it was massive. The puppy promptly jumped up, toppling the boy over in a fit of fur, large puppy paws, and big puppy licks. Arthur rolled his eyes.

Just then, Gwaine jumped down the stairs and eagerly pounced on the pup, lifting it off a struggling Merlin. "Well well, what do we have here?" He gave a whistle after placing it back on the floor. "That's a big boy. What's the little fella's name, then?" Gwaine smiled as the puppy laid back, obviously soaking up all the love and affection he could from this man, earning himself a belly rub.

"Umm," Merlin thought for a moment. "I'm not sure yet."

"Of course," Arthur grumbled, still refusing to step anywhere near the little giant. "No leash, no collar, no tag, no name – You might just well be the biggest impulse buyer in the world, Merlin. We are not keeping him in this apartment!"

"But I already told Percival I'd take him," The boy cooed, scratching the pooch behind its floppy black ears. "He doesn't need a lot, just love and attention and a good home."

"Idiot," Arthur walked away and pulled out his phone, sending a quick text to Percy. His two friends continued cooing and petting the insane ball of fluff. With a snap of his phone, he turned back to the two men who'd apparently transformed into toddlers obsessed with a new toy. "What he needs is discipline and a clear sense of who's in charge." _And a very large yard far away from my home office._ Arthur frowned when the puppy began exploring the living room, nipping and barking at the rug.

"Aww don't listen to that mean scary man, little guy, he won't hurt you." Merlin cooed.

"Yeah," Gwaine looked up and smirked. "His bark's worse than his bite."

Merlin laughed. "See," he turned to Arthur with a smile. He got up to fetch a bowl of water for the puppy and bumped his friend on his way back. "Gwaine likes him."

"He's leaving for a month!" According to Gwaine, Europe had a new fashion line that had his name written all over it.

"Hey," Merlin jumped up, "You got the job! Congrats!"

The two friends hugged. The puppy disappeared somewhere behind the sound system. Arthur resisted the urge to crack his head open on the kitchen counter.

_**~xXx~**_

So with everyone gone and the apartment deserted, Arthur decided to do some work in the office. He smiled at the slight scent of coffee beans in the room, still present after so many months, and leaned back in his soft leather chair. He scowled when he heard the sound of little paws follow him in, but luckily –for the puppy as well as his carpet—the little creature seemed smart enough to be scared into the corner of his office and stay there. Or at least that's what Arthur would've liked to believe. The more logical side of his brain told him the pup was just looking for a corner to nap in after playing so much this afternoon.

Sunlight had faded by the time Arthur's stomach growled, urging him into the kitchen for dinner. Little paws followed him on his way.

He'd just sat down in the living with a large sub in hand when he heard a whine from below. He glanced down and saw the little puppy, sitting and cocking its head from side to side, staring at him with large brown eyes, almost black against the darker fur masking his face.

"If you think for one second that you're getting even a lick of this sandwich…" But Arthur didn't need to finish his threat. The puppy slipped away, tucking itself into the corner of the room and placing a large head on two large paws. For a moment Arthur debated handing over his sandwich to the pathetic little thing, but thought better of it. "Did that bumpkin buy you any food?"

The puppy whined. _No._

"Typical." The man sighed and glanced at the clock. It was still early enough that most stores would be open so he wrapped up his plate before putting it back in the fridge. He'd just slipped on his coat when he noticed the fluffy pooch wandering out of the corner towards him. It cocked its head to the side, staring as if to say, "What are you doing?" Arthur rolled his eyes and grabbed his keys.

It had taken him all of two steps before he heard a string of yelps behind the door he'd just closed. "What now?" He opened the door and stared at the fluffy thing. It was sitting again, staring at him with tearful eyes. "I'm going out and getting you food, you insufferable little monster, so you don't starve. God knows the boys would have my head if they found out I killed a poor innocent dog." –he caught himself— "Not that you're innocent. Now sit there and behave until I come back. And don't go into my office!" He added the last bit before closing the door again.

Immediately he heard yelping once more. _Merlin…_If there was ever a time to burry that boy alive it would've been now. Bringing a dog home out of the blue was one thing, but leaving Arthur alone to take care of it for half a month? That boy was in for it big time.

He pushed open the door and Fluff Ball resumed his sitting position. They stared at each other. And stared. And stared.

Arthur released a heavy sigh, "If you pee in my car…If you so much as get one scratch on my leather seats, I'll have you skinned and made into a fur coat."

So that's how Arthur ended up taking the little –but not really because the so called 'puppy' was like a baby elephant—pup from grocery store to grocery store in search of food. It turned out that a lot of them didn't allow pets inside for whatever reason –probably a very logical reason. Instead, he spent the next twenty minutes trying to track down a pet store while attempting to keep the Giant Fluff of Doom at bay. Luckily his leather seats survived the trip there and back, only suffering the minor beatings of a wagging tail.

Carrying the pup into the apartment –carrying because _someone_ was afraid of the elevator and refused to get in unless carried— while still managing a hold on both his car keys and the new bag of dog food was not an easy feat. Not only was it incredibly awkward to maneuver into the building while avoiding cooing women and children, it was as if he was bench pressing a bear cub before it went into hibernation.

So after settling down and grabbing a spare bowl from the kitchen to put the kibble in, Arthur sat down by the corner and watched as Fluff Ball padded up to the food with its tail curled high in the air. He sat there watching as the little beast finished eating, a reluctant smile on his face, before getting up and sitting back down in his office chair. Finally he'd be able to get some peace and quiet to look over his files and eat his sandwich.

_**~xXx~**_

Except not really.

"Is there something wrong with you?" Arthur looked up from the folder he'd been reading, a brow raised in annoyance, to the sound of sniffing and whimpering. It couldn't have been more than a half hour since they'd both eaten and all Arthur really wanted to do was sit back and relax. But there were files to be read and emails to be sent. Now on top of all that, he had a baby to take care of! A round, puffy, fluffy, sniffing ear-forward, circling, half-squatting looking as if he wants to—

Half-squatting?

Oh no.

Shit.

_Shitshitshitshitshit_!

_**~xXx~**_

"…and this is why dogs belong outside." He muttered as he took out the trash, now smelling heavily of a certain pup's 'business' – said puppy wrapped in one arm of course. Arthur silently thanked his father for having such strong reservations on the digital age. All the stacks of newspapers in his office finally prove useful for something other than being a fire hazard. Disposing of the foul garbage, he held the dog between his hands and asked, "Do you realize how much work you are?" The pup whimpered and Arthur set him down on a nearby patch of grass.

Walking over to a bench, Arthur sat down and took out his phone; Merlin hadn't even bothered to check in. Nor had Percival agreed to take the puppy back (_If anyone can handle a dog like that, it's you, _his text had read).

He looked down when he felt something nudge his ankle. The puppy was sitting at his feet enjoying a rather good bite out of his shoes. Arthur glowered and growled, "Those are Armani. Stop it."

The puppy sat back and it occurred to Arthur that puppies liked to sit a lot. Or maybe it was just this one that enjoyed sitting so much. That, and staring up with large brown eyes and perked ears with a little paw or two raised in the air – which was in no way cute, definitely not sweet, and especially not adorable.

…Maybe a little endearing…

But even when the little bugger stretched out on the path and rolled onto its back as if inviting Arthur for a belly rub, Arthur didn't budge. Instead, he decided to walk down the path, already accepting the fact that he'd get no work done tonight and might as well do something other than lay around the apartment watching little puppies circle around the hardwood and sniff and nip at the rug.

When he got up to stroll around the park, he let himself feel pleased at the fact that the puppy followed him. In fact, it seemed to be following him everywhere, never straying far from the lawyer's side. Maybe the little thing wasn't as useless as Arthur had thought. When he kneeled to the ground, the puppy came to him eagerly and Arthur let his hand be licked by the small flickering tongue.

"Now don't take this the wrong way," Arthur pointed a finger and the pup sat back, nibbling at the thing before its nose. Arthur sighed and stood up. He began walking back to the apartment, stopping when he heard a rustling in the nearby bushes and saw the patch of fawn-coloured fur sniffing about going on doing his 'business.' As long as he doesn't do it _inside_ the apartment, was all Arthur thought. There was no way he was laying down newspapers for this dog day in and day out.

"Just because I fed you and took you out and caved when that shop girl offered me a deal on a doggie bed –even though I'm sure she wasn't supposed to do that—doesn't mean I care about you." He stopped to take the puppy in his arms before getting into the elevator. The little giant rested against the crook of his neck, startling a little when the elevator _dinged_.

He sighed as he opened the door and stepped into the flat. "I'm not going to be one of those bumbling idiots that coo and coddle you just because you look like an innocent doe. I mean look at you" –Arthur sat down in his office chair, laying the puppy on his lap—"you're only a few months old and you already weigh more than most things in this room. Heck, you probably weigh more than Merlin."

The pup rolled over on his back, rolled back, got up, spun around, and then flopped back down again. A few seconds later, he decided that wasn't a good enough position and rolled over on his back again, one ear bent back.

"Yes, yes, you're very cute. Are you happy now?"

There was a brief pause where some serious belly scratching took place, and after a small spaz attack (meaning the fluff ball tried doing continuous barrel rolls down his leg until almost tumbling off), Arthur sat the puppy back down and continued. "Now if you're going to be staying here, there need to be some ground rules. Rule one:" He picked up one of his folders and held it up to the puppy. "Paws off my work—hey!—no!—that is not a toy—come back here!"

_**~xXx~**_

"Lastly, you will sleep downstairs in your bed. Not mine, yours." Arthur decided to lead the pup on a tour of the flat, thinking it was only logical to show the newest member his home in full appreciation –and if he let little rascal run around Merlin's room for a few minutes, there was no proof that Arthur had anything to do with the knocked over lamps or torn pillows.

Of course he had to carry the helpless thing down the stairs afterwards, placing him in the little bed in the corner of the room beside the L-couch. And of course the moment he turned off the lights and began walking away the ball of fluff bounded after him whining up a storm. Arthur just placed him back into bed, stayed until the puppy closed his eyes, then left.

Only to be followed once again.

This cycle continued for another half hour before the puppy realized he had to go potty –again!—and then they were right back where they started.

"Ugh! Fine, I'm too tired for this…" Arthur stomped up the stairs, not even stopping to watch the pup hastily climb the stairs behind him. What he really wanted more than anything right now was his bed and his pillows and sleep. He'd probably spent more time riding the elevator today than he had in the whole year.

He landed face-first into his pillow; the only thing prying him from passing out completely was a trail of whining and pitiful barks. Arthur rolled his head to the edge of the bed then rolled back over, throwing an arm over his eyes with a groan. "I have given you everything. I gave you food; I gave you water; I gave a bed and bought you that stupid red Kong you wanted so badly. Now would you please –Just. Go. To. Sleep."

The puppy whined.

_**~xXx~**_

"…and you don't even have a name..." He stared up at the ceiling, thinking that if he ranted enough it would tire both of them out and he'd be able to get some sleep. The pup looked up from the foot of the bed, tipping his head from side to side as the man spoke.

In the end, it got up and trailed his dark muzzle along the perimeter of the bed; duvet covers and pillows, before settling down beside Arthur's stomach, breathing in a deep sigh.

Arthur shut his eyes and let sleep wash over him. _Finally_.

_**~xXx~**_

They slept straight through the nights till early morning when the lawyer was awoken by whimpering and Arthur realized that maybe he'd have to move a few floors down or at least teach the fluff ball to use the elevator himself because he did not want to wake up at the crack of dawn every day for the rest of his life. Despite what the early morning joggers thought, Arthur really did own shoes and shirts. There just wasn't enough time to slip them on in the mad-dash to the neighbouring park.

Arthur did not envy the poor sod that got stuck cleaning the elevator after a certain puppy's 'accident.'

_**~xXx~**_

"I'm back!"

Merlin shut the door behind him and looked around. The apartment seemed oddly disheveled and yet…not, at the same time. The furniture was all in the same place even though there were visible bite and scratch marks here and there, but it took him a moment to realize what surprised him so much. It wasn't that he expected anything serious, but a puppy was a puppy and didn't puppies like to, for a lack of better words, destroy? Will had own many dogs on his family ranch and Merlin knew just how much damage those four-legged bundles of energy could do. He was pretty sure Arthur knew about it too, if the way he reacted when Merlin brought home the dog was anything to go by.

So when he walked in, tripping quite horribly on a number of toys, Merlin really didn't know what to think. Toys. Arthur had bought toys. On top of that, Merlin noticed a neat looking tray sitting on the floor next to the kitchen island with two shining bowls in it. There also seemed to be a large doggie bed in the corner beside the couch.

There was a brief moment in passing when he imagined that it was actually Lance who had done all this and not the blond lawyer who seemed to loathed the animal so much. But Lance had texted him the week before saying he was spending the next few weeks at Gwen's – turns out the doctor was allergic! Oops.

The sound of barking roused him from his reverie and he looked up to see the newest member of the household. "There you are!" He bounded the stairs to meet the puppy at the top, pausing when the large puppy ran away.

Ran away into Arthur's room, barking all the way.

"Oh no," Arthur hated people in his room. "Wait, come back!" he hissed, hoping the lawyer in question hadn't woken up yet. If Merlin didn't act fast, there might not be a puppy left to save! He poked his head in the room with extreme caution, keeping vigil for flying objects hurled at his head, and reeled back in horror. The dog was on Arthur's bed! _Shitshitshit—_

"Merlin—"

"NO—Arthur—close your eyes!" The boy leapt forward as he saw the man emerge from his walk-in closet, gesturing wildly at the poor dog to run while he still had legs. Despite Arthur's flailing and questionings of sanity, Merlin kept his hand in the way, feeling a deep sense of relief when the animal jumped off the bed via the wooden chest at the foot of Arthur's bed—

And straight into Merlin.

The boy landed on the ground with a thump. "Ow."

"Cabal, off." Merlin looked up in a daze, feeling a huge weight lifted from him, and concluded that he must've been dreaming because what he saw surely couldn't have been happening. Arthur took the puppy in his arms –can a puppy grow that much in two weeks?— and peered over his friend still on the ground catching his breath. "You alright down there Merlin?"

The assistant barely managed a mumbled "No."

"Good."

_**~xXx~**_

"So," Merlin spoke in between spoonfuls of cereal. "Cabal?"

"Yes, Merlin, is there a problem with that?"

"No, no. It's just interesting is all." Arthur turned after turning on the coffee maker. The puppy –Cabal— circled the kitchen, sniffing at Merlin before returning to Arthur's side.

"Oh, would you rather name him something like Fluffy or Spot?" He mocked with a pouting lip. The boy just rolled his eyes and ate his cereal. After the little incident in the bedroom, the two of them made their way downstairs for Sunday morning breakfast and Merlin noted how Cabal stayed glued to the man's side and how Arthur didn't seem to mind in the least. If anything, he acted as if he didn't know the dog was practically leaning on him. When they went down the stairs, Arthur lifted the pup with ease and carried him down, muttering something about a fear of steps when Merlin raised a brow in question.

He waited in the kitchen as Arthur took Cabal out, and watched in shock as he went through the motions of feeding and praising the dog. Was this really Arthur?

"I thought you hated that dog." Merlin narrowed his eyes.

"Yes Merlin, but you're forgetting the most important factor here: I hate you more." Which of course, Merlin knew, was Arthur-talk for 'I actually really like the dog but won't admit it because you'll never let me live it down.' He laughed.

"Well," he hid a smile behind his cup of coffee. "It's nice seeing this new sensitive, emotional side of you. It suits you."

"Shut up, _Mer_lin."

"Have you taught him any tricks yet?" He decided to change the subject, leaning down the pet the large pup on the head.

"Oh," Arthur stepped around him and there were sounds of shuffling through cabinets as Merlin tousled the soft fur on the sweet young dog. Cabal jumped up a moment later and Merlin swiveled on his heel, still crouched on the floor, to see his friend holding a very familiar looking bag on kettle corn. His frown met Arthur's smirk. "Just one." He tossed the bag and Merlin caught it with ease, not quite catching up until it was too late.

_**~xXx~**_

It took two days before Merlin decided to dispose of all his kettle corn, but not before being tackled on his way out the door by a certain bounding giant-in-training.

"Arthur! Call him off!"

"This is what you get for leaving me alone with a wild animal for two weeks with absolutely no supplies."

"You've turned him into a personal attack dog _against me_!"

"It's sitting on you, Merlin, not tearing out your jugular." Arthur laughed and turned on his heel, the weight lifting from Merlin immediately. He propped himself up on his elbows, glaring at the blond with a mixture of anger and jealousy. Arthur didn't even want the dog and yet it followed him everywhere, slept by his side, and did as he asked. In the back of his mind, Merlin should've known something like this would happen even if he didn't leave for those two weeks. Every dog had their pack, and every pack had its Alpha.

Heading towards his office, Arthur reached down to give his pup a well deserve scratch behind the ears, Cabal trotted by his side content to follow him wherever he went.


	10. Rock Band Intermission

_Hello faithful readers_

_Okay...so this chapter has been long in the making ever since seeing a certain video...haha read on to find out what I'm taking about!_

_Enjoy,_

_Bree Z Claire_

_**No copyright infringement is intended. RockBand and Merlin (characters and etc.) belong to their respected owners.**_

* * *

"My God! What is that racket?" Morgana flinched as the elevator doors opened to a flood of electric guitar solos, drums, and a very loud shrieking sound. Arthur couldn't help but think the same as he took out his keys and cautiously pushed open the door to his apartment.

As he'd feared, it was even louder inside than it was outside and the sight was about ten times worse. The large speakers were turned up to the max so the floor shook beneath his feet. The screen was flashing with a multitude of blinding colours. Two receding bars lined the bottom of the screen, each having their own respected tabs popping up with blue, yellow, blue and red, green and red, and etc. while the bar at the top of the screen had an on-going green line running along with lyrics underneath. Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose; it was as he'd feared.

They were playing RockBand.

"I thought you'd hidden everything in the storage unit downstairs," Morgana leaned into him and whisper.

"I did," he groaned back. He mentally kicked himself for lecturing Gwaine and Merlin earlier that day when they were complaining about being bored with nothing to do on a Sunday morning. The building's fire alarm had gone off, tearing the four of them out into the streets.

It wasn't as bad for Arthur and Lance, who already had plans that morning and had dressed and eaten breakfast. For Gwaine and Merlin however, who loved sleeping in till late afternoon, waking up so early in the day meant they had nothing to do now that they were up and couldn't get back to sleep. Arthur had told them to clean out their storage unit in the building's basement, which they obviously did –and now abandoned— if they'd managed to dig up the dusty old game system.

He wasn't exactly sure what had happened the last time they embarked of their adventure to become hypothetical rockstars, but somehow it ended with Lance coming down with a serious case of multiply personality disorder and Gwaine putting a mic stand through the TV – if there was one thing that Arthur never wanted to see again it was Lance with a bandana tied around his head, large aviators on his nose, and how-did-hell-did-you-ever-find-those black army boots. He was glad –for all their lives—that Gwen never found out about it.

Morgana, who had followed him back to the apartment hoping to find the nail polish she'd left behind from her last visit, immediately swiped what she could before darting out. Arthur didn't blame her. He couldn't blame her. He couldn't even find it in him to mutter the words "traitor" because he was itching to do the same.

He walked in with extreme caution, pausing by the large arm chair to ask Lance, "Are you sure this is a good idea?" He gulped when the bassist turned his head, aviators and bandana already in place.

"Sod off, Farnham."

_Oh dear…_

"Arthur!"

Arthur turned to see Merlin running down the stairs with an armful of bottled water and rolled his eyes. It was typical for the boy to be wearing such a blindingly stupid grin at this moment. Arthur and the others had long hung up their guitars and drum sticks by the time Merlin moved in with them so really this was the first time the bright-eyed boy was witnessing all of them –sans Arthur at the moment—play. And of course, since he was an utter mess with coordination, Merlin remained in the clear zone safe from any rock 'n' roll mannerisms by lack of participation.

But then again, there was probably enough crazy in their apartment at the moment.

"_Mer_lin, I thought I told you to clean out the storage, not drag it up here."

"What?" The boy cocked his head in confusion only to catch on after a few seconds, "Oh don't worry. We cleaned up first before bringing it up," _It _being the monstrosity burning a hole through his ears. Arthur suppressed a groan.

In other words, they were cleaning, saw the game, shoved everything back in before bringing the game back upstairs. He turned his head to witness Will – "Why the hell is Will here?" "We needed another player so I called him up!" – hollering into the mic while Gwaine and Lance did their thing on the guitars. He knew it would all go downhill soon because the latter (read: doctor) was getting especially friendly with the whammy bar and the former kept going into overdrive.

The drums were out but untouched; they had probably reserved them for Arthur. The lawyer rolled his eyes and decided to head upstairs to get changed; what rockstar wore professionally tailored suits? Not that he was planning to play, no, no of course not. But if either Gwaine or Lance were going to start throwing inanimate objects around the apartment, Arthur wanted to be prepared to duck and dodge as necessary.

Cabal was waiting for him on his bed, fighting the pulls of sleep as Arthur changed into a navy shirt and jeans.

Poor thing. They were out for their daily walk not two weeks ago when the poor champ took a long sniff in a flower bed and had a nasty face-off with a bumblebee. By the time Arthur pulled the rascal away, Cabal had already taken a large chomp out of the bug, yelping out instantly when the angry thing stung the inside of his cheek. By the time they returned home, the little giant didn't look quite as fierce as before; his cheek had puffed out and his eye had swollen shut.

Luckily a trip to the vet proved successful and now the swelling had gone down considerably. The only downside was the drowsiness brought on by of the pills, but at least Cabal was well again, and hopefully the pup had learned his lesson on the dangers of curiosity. And bees.

After giving a few pats on the head, a tummy rub, and putting up with an ocean of licks, Arthur went back downstairs to salvage what he could of the living room. He was relieved to find that the furniture hadn't suffered just yet. Things had, however, advanced to the next stage.

Will, Lance, and Gwaine were in full-focus mode. All three men stood on the couches and Will actually had the audacity to be bouncing around from couch to armchair in all his flailing arms and shaking head of brown hair. Merlin was sitting on the kitchen island enjoying the show with a particularly amused smile.

Arthur winced when they hit the last chorus.

_We've got to hold on ready or not  
You live for the fight when it's all that you've got_

_Whooah, we're half way there  
Oh! Livin' on a prayer  
Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear  
Oh! Livin' on a prayer_

The song rounded to an end with top scores, and the three men matched their alter egos on the screen as the animated fans cheered. Arthur took a breath before stepping off the last step and walking up to Will. He knew what Gwaine and Lance were like when playing but Will was wildcard so Arthur approached with caution.

"Well well, look what the cat dragged in."

"Good to see you too, Will," Arthur said and the tension in his shoulders eased slightly; no alter ego here it would seem. "Listen, why don't you head off before we start getting noise complaints?"

"Ah," as predicted, Lance threw a drum stick at the interruption. Luckily Arthur ducked in time. "Don't be such a wanker, Farnham!"

"We can't just drop our lead singer in the middle of a world tour!" Gwaine flung his arms up, and thankfully his guitar strap was on or else the drop would've done some serious damage to the fragile toy – although whether or not it was a bad thing, Arthur wasn't sure.

Arthur turned his head to see Merlin watching this exchange from a safe distance and shot him a look. The boy perked up in attention.

"Um," he hopped off the table and walked over. Ever the voice of reason, because if anyone could get a handle on Will, it was him, Merlin spoke up above the speakers, "Will, you've got an early morning tomorrow don't you?"

"Aww, yeah, that's right. Completely forgot about that, thanks mate." Arthur held in a sigh of relief, suddenly thankful for Will's job at the café that kept him busy on most days. Beside him, Gwaine cursed and threw down his guitar and Will had the good sense to jump back as the plastic cracked open, splitting the guitar into its two halves. "Uh…I'm gonna go now." He all but ran out the door, barely managing a 'seeya later' to his friend.

"Damnit Gwaine!" Thank god it missed the table.

"Shit…we're down an axe." The model frowned.

"Bloody brilliant," Lance threw the remaining drum stick somewhere Arthur couldn't see and Merlin, out of some twisted humor or fear, went to retrieve it. The lawyer tried to get a handle on his friends, who were clearly on the verge of a warpath.

"Guys, please—"

"Ten seconds away from our next gig and you go and cock it all up, Farnham! First our singer and now Ga-wain's axe—"

Gwaine just shrugged before saying, "Guess I'll take up the drums, yeah?"

Merlin handed over the drum sticks –all in one piece, miracles do happen!— and leaned in to whisper, "Why does he keep calling you Farnham?" Arthur waved a dismissive hand.

"Shut up, Merlin."

Lance, who was still standing menacingly on the couch, bent over at the waist and pointed his guitar head into Arthur's chest. The blond gulped and wondered for the fifth time since he'd walked into the apartment how such a noble and kind doctor could have such an angry, and for some odd reason British, alter ego. It truly was frightening. The aviators slid down and Arthur could make out the narrowed eyes behind the reflective lenses.

"You know what you have to do, don't you?"

It was rhetorical, of course, but Gwaine answered it anyways. "You gotta step it up, Farnham."

"Arthur singing? Oh this I've got to see!" Merlin laughed, moving back to the kitchen to take up his perch, preferring to watch from afar. He'd entered the danger zone twice already and although it was amazingly entertaining, it was also amazingly scary.

"Oh, no, you don't," Arthur caught him by the collar of his red and black checkered button-down, hauling him back to his side. He growled because there really wasn't anything else he could do, what with Lance staring daggers at him and Gwaine looking about ready to impale someone with a drum stick. "If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me!"

* * *

_**~ oOo ~**_

The fans cheered as the band geared up and took their place. To his right, Lance adjusted the effects on his pickup switch and secured the strap around his body; it wouldn't do to have another instrument trashed, not before their final performance.

Gwaine was behind him to his left, shirt discarded from the heat. The drummer rolled his ankle and Arthur gave him an encouraging look because after the last song's string of bass drum beats, anyone would be about ready to throw in the towel. He received a nod and smiled, Gwaine was a fighter.

Merlin flanked him, currently pushing up and re-rolling his sleeves. He ran a hand through his hair; the beads of sweat made his brown curls stick up every which way. He adjusted the mic before giving Arthur a wink. The curled smile of his lips hadn't faded since their second number and now Arthur had enough confidence in the boy to let him open their final number. He'd earned it.

_We have the chance to turn the pages over  
We can write what we want to write  
We gotta make ends meet, before we get much older  
_

A small shift, barely noticeable, in the younger man made Arthur step forward. Thanks to Merlin, he had had enough time to grab a swig of water and was ready to take up his place in the spot light once again. He smiled at the bright-eyed boy, blue eyes sparkling and practically drunk with happiness.

_We're all someone's daughter  
We're all someone's son  
How long can we look at each other  
Down the barrel of a gun?  
_

The two sings leaned into each other, feeding off one another's energy and heat, and back to back they sang out the chorus. Gwaine twirled his sticks with the final beats of anticipation and Lance jumped up, crashing to the ground and strumming down with a windmill roll of his arm. Arthur knew without a shadow of a doubt that each and every one of them were beaming like there was no tomorrow. The crowd roared.

_You're the voice, try and understand it  
Make the noise and make it clear, oh, woah  
We're not gonna sit in silence  
We're not gonna live with fear, oh, woah  
_

* * *

**_Song list in order of appearance:  
_**

_Livin' on a prayer - by Jon Bon Jovi  
_

_You're the voice - by John Farnham_**_  
_**

**_Prompts are currently being taken :)_**


	11. Red Socks and Pillow Fights

_Hello hello!_

_No pillow or socks were harmed in the making of this chapter. Chapter Prompts are welcome!  
_

_Enjoy!  
_

_Bree Z Claire  
_

_**I don't own Merlin.**  
_

* * *

"_MER_LIN!"

Merlin winced, laundry basket in hand. He had hoped that he'd be able to last at least half a day without facing the Rage of Pendragon, or so he called it. Hoping it wasn't too much for the Gods to let him slip upstairs into Arthur's room to place all his laundry back in place, slyly hiding the 'shirts of a changed colour' on the bottom of the drawers before slipping out again. Hoping it wasn't too much that Arthur wouldn't notice that all his whites were now turned pink by one – not both mind you, how only one of the offending socks escaped, Merlin would never know – of his red socks.

On the upside, Merlin now understood why his mother always cautioned him to roll his pairs of socks straight out of the dryer so he wouldn't lose them. It was concluded then and there that Hunith Emrys was a very brilliant woman and Merlin should've listened to her more in the past instead of phasing out of lectures.

But then again, all that practice of phasing out came in handy when facing Arthur's lecturing, which he was most certainly about to receive.

Lance had caught up him on his way up the stairs; he was heading out with Gwen to pick out China patterns or something - There were a lot of wedding things going on that Merlin really didn't understand…apparently there were cake samples to choose from as well. Who knew? "Why couldn't you just," Lance wiggled his fingers in the air, implying magic. "You know."

Merlin sighed. It wasn't as if he hadn't tried, nor wanted to try. He was used to removing small stains here and there; ink stains on his tie, questionable spots on the upholstery after a party, ice cream drops on his pants, and even nail polish when Arthur and Morgana had a fight about her doing her nails in the apartment ("This is a _man's_ apartment, Morgana! I will not have you defiling it with your girly 'Fuchsia Shock' and 'Shell We Dance'… _stuff_!" "You're just jealous you can't pull them off anymore like when you used to go on your crazy-ass spring vacations with your crazy-ass friends!") and spilt the little vials all over the hardwood floor. So it was second nature to him when he'd dropped one of Gaius' potions on the floor at The Magic Dragon to whisper a few words and clean it up again.

The next hour and a half consisted of Gaius hounding him on the importance of hard work and 'not relying on magic to solve every difficulty that may arise!' so Merlin promptly swore he'd do his best to cut down on using magic to solve mundane problems – and argued fervently that reheating certain caffeinated drinks were in fact essential to life.

So when he'd accidentally washed one of Arthur's red socks in with the man's whites, resulting in an abundance of pink dress shirts, he tried bleach in vain. With a small sigh, which in no way came out as a whimper, he began his funeral march back to his flat.

And of course Arthur would be right there when he walked in.

"What," he gingerly lifted a shirt, rubbing his thumb against the rosy collar. "Did you _do_?" He started rummaging through the basket still in Merlin's hands, muttering in horror when he kept picking out pink dress shirt after pink dress shirt and not a single white.

"N-now Arthur it isn't that bad —"

"_Isn't that bad_? Are you daft?"

"It's not like it looks horrible, a lot of guys wear pink."

"Pendragon's do not wear _pink_, _Mer_lin!" He spat out every word. Even Morgana preferred her blood red lipstick over her coral shade.

"Well," Merlin ventured a cheeky smile. "Does this get me out of laundry duty then?" Arthur seemed not to hear, though his face was grow into a familiar shade a red.

"How could you screw this up Merlin, I have work tomorrow!" He dug through to the bottom of the basket until there was a sudden stop. "What is this?"

He was holding up a bright red sock, surprisingly un-faded and looking happy and healthy as ever, in his fist and looked at Merlin with a look as if to say, 'you'd better have a good explanation for this.'

"Umm, it's your lucky red sock?" he smiled nervously. "So really, you can't be mad when it was your own sock that turned your shirts red. Think of it as shirt and sock incest…except no; don't think about it like that…umm…or maybe –"

"_Mer_lin," The blond spoke with annoyance. "This isn't my sock."

"W-what? Yes it -"

But then Merlin remembered. He realized that Arthur didn't own any red socks. Red sweaters, yes, red shirts, yes, but not socks. In fact, the only person in the whole apartment that owned red socks was Merlin himself.

Oh. That's right.

The first time Arthur ever wore socks of any colour was that weekend when he'd run out of socks and took some from Merlin – without asking! They suited him so well that Arthur took to wearing them all around the apartment whenever he didn't need to go out. This was partly to piss Merlin off ("They're my lucky socks Arthur! Give them back!" "There is no such thing Merlin, stop being such a girl.") and partly because they were so comfortable. Merlin knew so from experience; those were his favourite pair! And also because he found Arthur more often than not wiggling his toes in the fluffy red material while resting his feet on the coffee table.

But wait.

Oh no…then that meant—

"One of my socks is missing!" He dropped the basket, narrowly missing Arthur's feet as he frantically ran through the apartment. His other lucky sock had to be here somewhere!

Arthur took his laundry basket back to his room, sighing and mentally making note to buy more white shirts before tomorrow morning, before coming back out to find Merlin uprooting the couch cushions and several of the baskets underneath the glass table. He suppressed an eye roll as the dangling limbs flung around, throwing Merlin behind the couch with a heavy thump. It could have been anywhere between ten to twenty minutes later until Arthur finally managed to get the attention of his frantic flatmate, shouting a trail of 'Merlins' as he made his way around the living room, cleaning up the disaster.

He'd just finished putting the last wicker basket under the table when Merlin –or rather Merlin's head—popped up from behind the couch, staring wide-eyed at Arthur. The blond tried his best not to laugh at the lone head without a body.

Arthur stood up, "_Mer_lin. Come here and calm down before you give yourself a heart attack."

The 'floating head' just frowned. "Do I look like a dog to you?"

Arthur paused for a moment, taking in the cocked head on the couch—a mop of dark brown, almost black, hair with large blue eyes and even larger ears. He smiled. "With those ears? I'd say you look more like a puppy-sized elephant."

And while Arthur fell back on the couch laughing, Merlin just continued to glare until reaching down to grab and hurl a pillow at the prat. He ducked down when Arthur promptly caught the pillow and threw it back.

Taking advantage of his position on the L-couch, which was stocked full with throw pillows, Arthur jumped back onto the couch and loaded his arms with projectiles. He laughed when Merlin realized he only had the one pillow on the sofa chair. "_En garde_, Wizard Boy."

Merlin smirked and, with a flash of gold, found himself surrounded by the throw pillows previously at his opponent's disposal. "Ha!"

"That's cheating!" Arthur jumped, throwing pillow after pillow.

"It's called using your strengths." Merlin yelled as he hit the ground and rolled, using his hoodie to aid him in sliding across the hardwood. From his position in the corner behind the L-couch, he shot a few pillows at Arthur, who'd now jumped onto the sofa chair. Arthur blocked and whipped a few more pillows before jumping down and making a tackle over the glass coffee table. He slipped on the floor but made a grab for an arm, managing to take hold of Merlin's hoodie sleeve but Merlin—the sneaky git—squirmed out of his sweater before Arthur could stop sliding.

Merlin laughed as the lawyer crashed into the wall of pillows, "You know, either I'm getting better at this or you're getting out of shape!" Because usually by now, Merlin would be pinned to the floor by a large couch cushion while Arthur sat on top of him laughing. Arthur glared at him from where he lay on his back.

"Are you calling me fat?" He asked incredulously.

Merlin pretended to ponder this for a good several seconds before Arthur bull rushed him. The tackling and pillow throwing went on for another few minutes and somewhere in the midst of jumps and lunges, Merlin got the brilliant idea of magicking the table into the far corner near the kitchen so no one would end up in the hospital like last time. The distraction was enough for Arthur to make his move, locking the younger man in headlock. Merlin struggled to get loose but Arthur was obviously too strong for him. He began noogying full force.

"Ngggahhh!"

"Still think I need to get in shape?"

"No!"

Arthur let go, sending the boy tumbling back and rubbing his head. Merlin shook out his mop of hair and would've leapt forward if it weren't for the shower of pillows that rained down on them just then. Arthur ducked for cover, rolling along the floor and hiding beside the L-couch and Merlin, still on the ground, rolled backwards to grab a pillow to shield himself as he took on a position somewhat relating to an overturned turtle. When the rain of pillows ceased, two pairs of bright blue eyes gazed up to see Gwaine leaning on the railings at the top of the stair landing.

"Having fun there lads?"

Merlin laughed. Gwaine slept in a mountain of pillows –Merlin always related it to the baby's room in _Spirited Away_— so he never really ran out of ammo during pillow fights because he'd always just retreat to his room and come out waging war like the Terminator. Merlin kicked his pillow upwards, barely reaching the landing when Gwaine stood.

"Did we wake you?"

"What, with the Queen over there throwing a temper tantrum? Of course not." Gwaine made his way down the stairs, jabbing a thumb in Arthur's direction with a smirk. At this point Arthur was leaning against the side of the couch, head propped up against his crossed arms.

"At least I don't spend a lifetime primping in the bathroom," he muttered.

"Some of us actually care about how we look in the morning." The brunet threw a heavy pillow at Arthur, who caught it easily.

"Me? I guess you haven't seen Merlin first thing in the morning—"

"Oi!"

"—what with his massive case of bed head and keyboard-marked face—Oof!" He never got to finish his sentence because by that time Merlin had started to fling pillow after pillow in his direction, laughing in success when one bounced off the man's head and sent the pillows Arthur had managed to catch flying off in all directions. It didn't take long for things to pick up after that and soon pillows – throw pillows, goose down pillows, big pillows, small pillows…every type of pillow imaginable actually—found their way thrown and scattered across the entire first floor of the apartment.

Merlin wasn't sure when exactly Lance had joined in; the man was yelling at them for smushing up his wedding cake samples. But as the sun began to set and lights were turned on, the four of them found themselves divided. Gwaine and Merlin took cover behind the kitchen island with a fort of heavy pillows stacked up so the entire kitchen area was blocked off while Lance and Arthur had pushed together the sofa chair and the L-couch to create a fortress of their own. Insults were thrown around when heavy fire wasn't being exchanged and somehow blankets were brought in to be used as shields as one pair attempted to invade the other pair's castle.

"My sock!" Amongst the hustle and bustle, Merlin had flung open the refrigerator door to quickly block a rain of fluffy doom when he froze. His other lucky sock was currently sitting rather snugly in the crisper protecting a half-empty beer bottle. Gwaine, who had taken refuge beside him, gave a hearty chuckle.

"Oh yeah, we were trying to keep the beers cold last night" –another night, another drunken hoopla. Apparently towards the end of the party, when the remaining group decided that cleaning up drunk to avoid cleaning up with a hang-over was greatest idea since the creation of beer itself, someone had decided to use one of their socks as a beer cozy. That someone being Arthur.

Merlin narrowed his eyes as he slowing closed the fridge door. Arthur and Lance were currently hiding under blanketed cover, but their laughing eyes could be seen peaking over the edge of the couch. "This. Means. War."

And thus began the Great Pillow War of 2012.


	12. Coffee House Intermission

_Hi,_

_I'm not feeling well today...ergo...neither is Merlin. Sorry guys.  
_

_- Bree Z Claire_

* * *

He stepped into William's Café, barely registering the cold empty chime of the entrance bell just above the door.

It was a hurricane outside; high winds and heavy rain that drowned everything in its path. Merlin hadn't realized he'd been soaked until he stepped inside, droplets of water falling from his hair and onto the rug. His shoes and sweater were soaked through as well, but he didn't feel it, nor did he feel the icy wind chill him when the door swung closed with another meaningless _ding_.

He made his way to a table in the corner and leaned against the wall when he sat down. He closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths to calm his nerves. He could feel the ring in his pocket and it burned like a small ball of fire in his pale, skinny hands. Merlin opened his eyes when he heard the sound of footsteps and glass cups approaching him.

"It's that time of year again isn't it?" Will asked quietly. He gave Merlin a small smile when the boy nodded and filled a large coffee cup with fresh coffee. "On the house."

"Your parents ever scold you for giving me so much free coffee?" Merlin tried to keep his voice light and teasing but it only sounded hollow and lifeless in his ear.

"Well, good thing they're not here yeah?"

"Yeah…" His smile never reached his eyes. "Another trip around the world? Or are they having a fifth honeymoon?"

"Not too sure," Will shrugged and pushed the cup forward, giving his friend a careful glance.

Will had seen this day coming for a week now, just like he always did, and had prepared for it too. It was one day, one lousy day out of a grand three-sixty-five, when there would be no small quips about who's single or not, no joking or laughing or teasing and taunting between them. Even the telepathic conversations came to a standstill.

It always astonished Will how quickly the light could fade from Merlin's eyes the moment the anniversary day rose from the horizon. Merlin never worked on that day, nor did he eat or sleep or break from his reverie and Will, despite himself, had secretly wished that spending time with that Pendragon fellow would lead his friend to forget about whatever awful memory that haunted his friend even to this day.

What was probably the most frustrating thing that came out of Merlin's behaviour on this particular day was not the inevitable rain – Merlin always said he had nothing to do with it and that it was just a coincidence, but Will never believed him- but the fact that Will himself didn't understand what brought about this behaviour in the first place. He had his guesses as any good friend would – that day they were force to leave home always came to mind—but all his attempts had been made in vain trying to gather what information he could about this 'anniversary day' that Merlin never elaborated on.

The one thing Will was certain to have prepared every year was the piano on the small stage just a few feet from where they both were now. It didn't matter if there was barely a soul around; even if it were a full house, Merlin never spoke to anyone afterwards. Merlin looked down at the coffee cup. He didn't drink from it.

Will sighed. He leaned in, giving his friend a small squeeze on the shoulder. "Whenever you're ready. Do what you need to do," and left without another word.

**~~ xXx ~~**

Merlin ran his fingers over the ivory with a rueful expression, letting the music throw his mind back into the past. A past that was so distance and yet…still so very close to his heart. The wounds from that night still tore deep cuts through his veins and it was all he could do to not break down then and there. He played the same melody each year; it seemed like the only one to fit, so his hands knew where to go before he ever began to sing. His eyes remained in their bluish tinge but he could still feel the burning as if every note was pulling him further and further back into the memories of the past when the silver moonlight soaked his bones in a cold chill of fear.

It was the night that changed everything.

The night that forced him to leave and never return…He could still picture the look on his mother's face as she hurriedly gathered all his things, packed some food, and shoved a large wad of bills into his hands because he'd been in too much of a shock to do anything. She'd sent him away to protect him, even though he knew it killed her each and every day to know her baby could never return home to her in fear of what could happen.

_Step one you say we need to talk  
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk  
He smiles politely back at you  
You stare politely right on through  
_

_Some sort of window to your right  
As he goes left and you stay right  
Between the lines of fear and blame  
And you begin to wonder why you came_

_-[5 years earlier]-_

"_You have to let this go Gilli" The two of them sat at arms length, Gilli throwing stones into the nearby lake and Merlin looking at him with a pained expression. "We're done. We don't have to put up with Nollar or Tindr or any of them anymore! We're finally out of that place."_

"_For now…" the boy tossed another stone into the pond. It skipped twice before sinking. Disappearing under the dark surface. "But what if it's the same in university? If we don't stand up for ourselves now, what's going to stop them – or anyone else – from doing the same to us then, huh?_

"_I'm tired of hiding. I'm tired of the swirlies and the stolen lunches and having my bag thrown across campus while everyone just stands there and laughs!"_

"_I know how it feels, I understand." He moved a hand to Gilli's shoulder but the boy just flinched away. He stood with his arms out, anger bright in his eyes._

_"No you don't! You see this ring?" He held out a ring –his father's ring—and Merlin recognized it as a family heirloom past down to Gilli after his father's death. "With it, I don't have to put up with it anymore. Nollar and Tindr will be at my feet begging for mercy by the time I'm done with them. It's time those with magic fought back!"_

_"Gilli…"_

_"You can't tell me what to do!"_

_"You need to learn to use your magic for good! That is its true purpose! It's not meant for your own vanity!"_

"_It's time someone struck a blow for the likes of you and me. And if you're too weak, then I will."_

_Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend_  
_Somewhere along in the bitterness_  
_And I would have stayed up with you all night_  
_Had I known how to save a life_

_As he begins to raise his voice  
You lower yours and grant him one last choice  
Drive until you lose the road  
Or break with the ones you've followed  
_

_He will do one of two things  
He will admit to everything  
Or he'll say he's just not the same  
And you begin to wonder why you came_

_His heart was racing in his chest but Merlin didn't stop. He couldn't stop._

_Was he too late?_

_When he rounded the corner and scanned his eyes over the school ground, he spotted them. Merlin's eyes widened in horror as he took in the scene: Gilli standing over Nollar and Tindr with a large switch blade, nothing but pure hate in his eyes. _He must have paralyzed them with the ring, _Merlin thought._

"_Gilli! STOP!" But he was too late. Gilli brought down the knife, leaving a long gash along Tindr's neck and was now moving towards Nollar. He turned when he heard Merlin's voice. He smiled._

"_You were right Merlin. We don't have to deal with the likes of them anymore." He turned back to Nollar, still paralyzed and unmoving. Even in the near blackness of night Merlin could still see the white in his eyes – God, he wish he couldn't. It was fear. "You won't be hurting anyone ever again and once I'm done with you, your friends are next." He brought the knife back._

"_NO!" Merlin's eyes burned gold and Gilli dropped._

_Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend  
Somewhere along in the bitterness  
And I would have stayed up with you all night  
Had I known how to save a life  
How to save a life_

_How to save a life_

* * *

**Featured Song: How to save a life - The Fray**_  
_


	13. Smile for the Camera

_Hello hello!_

_It's been raining a lot here, but I love the rain to there's no problem!_

_So what's a day in the life of a model, like? Let's follow Gwaine and find out!_

_Enjoy,_

_Bree Z Claire_

* * *

_** ~ oOo ~  
**_

When Merlin made crepes for breakfast, it was automatically a great day. Not only did it remind Gwaine of those warm spring days back home with his mum and pa, but when Merlin tucked in those little extras like strawberries, blueberries, chocolate chips, and the occasional vanilla ice cream that melted in his mouth like a ghost, Gwaine was in pure bliss.

"I take it you had a nice night?" Gwaine asked with a wink, because Merlin never made this many crepes unless he was in an exceptionally good mood. It wasn't just the crepes either, it was like a whole feast with the kitchen island lined with bowl after bowl of freshly cut fruits, chunks of chocolate, and bottles of syrup and whipped cream. It was a rare occasion indeed, and Gwaine was soaking up as much as he could before Arthur and Lance rushed down.

"Got a lot of writing done," Merlin beamed and spooned another glob of batter into the pan. Gwaine smiled back in between bites of strawberry-stuffed crepe and gulps of juice. He reached over to top off his mountain of whipped cream with a few peanut butter chips as the writer slash assistant elaborated. "I got a call from Elyan last week. They said they were going to use one of my articles in their next issue!"

"Good on you, lad," Gwaine spoke as he raised a fork to toast in good spirit and clinked it against Merlin's spatula when the boy turned around. "What's it on?"

"Nothing big, just a little help column: 'How to Live on a Budget'," He answer cheekily. Gwaine bursted out laughing.

"I should've known."

It was no surprise that Merlin grew up in a whole other world from Gwaine, Arthur, and Lance. Little bits and pieces of the past had come out over cups of coffee, dinners by the TV, and late afternoon pillow fights and it didn't take much for Gwaine to see that the newest edition to their family was still getting use to his home despite having been with them for over a year. Merlin was frugal by nature, Gwaine knew, from his Value Village clothes to his DIY pottery cups – the latter was a hobby he took after his mother. "Waste not, want not," was a common phrase used in the Emrys household.

Gwaine never thought much of the green stuff though. He enjoyed the good life of fine wines and even finer dining and, just like Arthur and Lance, didn't hesitate to splurge here and there on what they saw as 'little things' such as a new refrigerator, a few new coffee makers, or even a larger TV to go with the new renovations. That white and gold china set they'd just bought? They had another four sets stashed somewhere behind the cupboard and in the storage. Every other week they'd have to replace the dining room table because it was either smashed by someone –drunk out of the there ever loving mind— attempting a swan dive over the railings or broken accidentally-on-purpose because one of the three –never Merlin— didn't like the pattern.

It wasn't until Merlin moved in that they realized just how well-off they were. Merlin saved his money, protected his computer like a mama bear guarding her cubs. He reduced, reused, and recycled; waiting till the dishwasher was full before turning it on. The boy almost broke down in tears when he dropped a glass plate, hyperventilating and calling out every apology under the sun until Arthur shoved a paper bag in his face barking the order, "Breathe, you idiot!"

Merlin had calmed down considerable after that and Gwaine spent hours each day trying to coax Merlin out of using plastic everything, finally winning him over with some environmental speech he'd copied off of the internet. Even then, Merlin still had trouble comprehending that if he broke something, it _wouldn't_ mean the end of the world and no, he wouldn't be thrown out onto the streets without food, water, and shelter.

"You worry too much," Gwaine had told his friend after buying an umbrella. They were just coming back from their visit to Merlin's uncle –that man had Eyebrows of Doom almost as frighten as his Aunt Muriel— when the April showers started coming down full force. Neither of them had an umbrella and they were still a long ways away from home so they ducked into a shop to buy one. Merlin had dragged his feet, complaining something fierce about buying an umbrella when they already had six or seven stashed away at home – said umbrellas having been bought under the same pretenses. "Hakuna matata!"

Merlin stared at him, perplexed, and for a moment Gwaine had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smirking at the doe-eyed boy standing before a backdrop of gray streets, blurred traffic, and pouring rain. If Arthur were there he probably would've commented that the boy's rained down hair made his large ears stick out even more.

Merlin cocked his head, "Did you just quote Lion King at me?"

Gwaine just smiled, threw an arm around his friend, and together they walked home having one hell of a Disney quote off.

Merlin was spooning the last of the batter now and Gwaine was starting on his seventh crepe when Arthur and Lance dashed down the stairs.

"Gwaine, you arse!" Arthur immediately stole away the plate piled with the goodies, loading himself a plate before passing the rest on to Lance who loaded a pile of chocolate chips on his stack of crepes not even bothering to fetch another plate. Arthur emptied the strawberry bowl, drizzling chocolate syrup over top to seal the deal. The boys dug in.

"Couldn't have left some for us, huh, Gwaine?" Lance pouted as if his four-crepe breakfast was nothing more than a small crumb. Merlin laughed his typical carefree laugh.

"There's more in the oven," The boy reached down to reveal another plateful of delicious heaven. There was a brief moment of silence when the kitchen came to a complete and utter standstill. Eyes shifted, and looks were exchanged. Arthur dived at the same time Lance lunged.

The two men collided, bringing an unfortunate end to another oven door. Merlin jumped back, barely managing a save when he tripped over someone's leg and crashed into the fridge. For once, Gwaine was the only one out of the four not smack dab in the center of chaos. He smiled at the realization.

"Shit." Merlin was holding himself up by the fridge handle. "Arthur! Lance!"

"Damn it."

"Ha!"

Lance rolled away, unloading three-quarters of the tower onto his plate before passing the rest to Arthur, still lying on the metal door, who took it with a painful but delighted groan. Merlin huffed, hands on his hips, and did his best to look cross at the two grown men. The apron and oven mitts, however, didn't exactly help the effort.

Gwaine finished off his breakfast between bouts of laughter.

"You are a Godsend, Merlin." He pushed his plate away and stood up, making his way to the door. It was rare of him to be heading off so early in the morning, let alone leave before the rest of his flatmates, but today was a special day. "Well, gentlemen, I must bid you farewell. Duty calls."

* * *

_**~ oOo ~****  
**_

The car pulled up to a large glass building and Gwaine was quickly ushered in by his assistant; a clean-cut army captain wannabe in a grey suit and skinny tie, who always had a colourful arsenal of "You're late's" every time Gwaine uttered so much as a hello. In Gwaine's opinion, all that man needed was a good night or two in bed. Doing no sleeping once so ever. He didn't have any reservations on inviting the man back home, no, none at all, except for the fact that Guy Harris was a thoroughbred little braggart with a stink-eye to match Gaius' and a glare like a shepherd dog. He had nothing on Arthur, but it was still a pretty impressive glare.

They lingered in the lobby, Guy tapping his foot impatiently as always, and Gwaine made use of his time by going on a search-and-rescue mission for the first glass of liquor he could find. He looked back to catch Guy scrolling through his phone, frustrated with being thrown off schedule by a few minutes – "Six minutes, Gwaine, which puts us behind schedule for the new wardrobe fitting and photoshoot!" Gwaine just shook his head. That lad needed a good back rub…among other things…

Success! He got a tip from the doorman about an office birthday party being held in a nearby conference room. It was just a matter of snatching a little name card, flashing a few smiles, and poof. Mission accomplished. After a few drinks, Gwaine headed back to his herding dog with his phone a few numbers fuller. Or at least that's what people thought. Phone numbers came and went as easily as Gwaine replaced his phone –which was often. The only permanent numbers on there were those who mattered most.

His phone buzzed as he crossed the lobby and into the elevator, and Gwaine flipped it open in a blink. He smiled as he read the message because it was just like Merlin to send him something so cheerfully nervewracking without meaning to do so.

_**From Merlin:**__ Forgot to wish you good luck today! So… good luck!_

"It's barely nine." Guy pinched the bridge of his nose as they rode up to the third floor. "Please don't tell me you're drunk already."

"Wonderful, isn't it?" Gwaine beamed. Of course he wasn't drunk; the conference was handing out apple cider! A travesty indeed. But Guy didn't need to know, the lad was almost as easy and fun to tease as Merlin. Except Merlin had those adorable blue eyes and his carefree smile whereas Guy had his…thick-rimmed spectacles and tie clip.

But in Guy's defense, it was a rather shiny tie clip and he took care of it very well.

After a quick-and-dirty briefing and updating on future jobs – Barbados next week would do wonders on his fading tan – they were on the move once again. Guy rode with a smile, as did Gwaine, but only because traffic was moving miraculously fast for the time of day. Gwaine was smiling for a completely different reason.

A nice weekend away after all his work in the city would be greatly appreciated and who knows? He could probably pull a few strings and bring the group along as well. He couldn't remember the last time they'd all been together on vacation, and Gwaine knew that Arthur would be itching for one of those frilly pink drinks he so secretly loved ever since their spring vacation days back in college. Plus, trips to exotic places always brought on the tradition of tacky Hawaiian shirts loud enough to be heard from across the globe. And Merlin had yet to join in on that sacred tradition.

Lance could use a day on the beach as well; the man was fierce when it came to beach volleyball and with Lance, Gwen, Arthur, and Morgana preoccupied with their competitive natures, that left Merlin free for wingman duty!

They hadn't gotten to spend much time together anymore, and Gwaine greatly regretted it. Arthur had officially banned them from the bar hopping scene ever since the whole Evil Harry Potter incident and there wasn't much time left for bonding between Gwaine's modelling schedule and Merlin's late night slash early morning writing rota. That, and working for Arthur, left the lad dead tired by the day's end. Merlin probably needed a vacation more than any one of them.

As the car reached their stop, Gwaine felt a familiar pang somewhere in his chest; not painful, but more like a small yearning. He took a breath as Guy dragged him from the backseat and into the building. When they stepped into the studio, Gwaine knew exactly where to go. The lights that used to blind him only left a soft glow in his peripherals now. The shoot-throughs and reflective umbrellas no longer left blotches in his vision and the clicks and shuffling of cameras and people no longer intimidated or confused him. This was his life, his job, and he flourished here.

His pocket buzzed again, and this time Gwaine frowned.

_**From Arthur:**__ Five years is a little long for fore-play don't you think?_

Another message from Merlin – _Sorry! Sorry! Arthur stole my phone. Stupid 'phone in office' policies _– told him enough to know that Arthur official knew. Gwaine rolled his eyes, _secret's finally out then_. He braced when his phone buzzed again, only this time it wasn't mocking condescension that lay sprawled on the screen as he would've expected from Arthur, but something that was almost supportive.

_**From Arthur:**__ If she really makes you feel this way, it's about time she met the family yeah? Bring her over._

_**From Merlin:**__ Ask her out!_

Gwaine cursed with a smile. It was a rare occasion to find Arthur and Merlin not at each other's necks. When the two of them fought it was almost impossible for anyone to break them out of it. It was a brooding storm of rolling anger and sullen grudges that had to be waited out until someone broke. But when those two actually agreed on something…

"On time for once, I see," a curt voice made him look up just in time to catch a heap of clothes thrown his way. By the time he managed to clear a line of sight, the strawberry-blonde had already turned away, heels clicking as she walked away to straightened out a suit jacket on a nearby rack. Gwaine skipped to a start; following the girl to the small nook he called his wardrobe room.

"Madeleine," he said with an easy smile. The young stylist just as easily ignored him, choosing to pick her way through the clothes surrounding them. The multiple racks of suits, shirts, scarves, hats –every article of clothing you could ever think of really—created a semi-private changeroom for him to change. Not that Gwaine ever had problems with changing in public, but apparently that was frowned upon. "Tu me manques."

He bent down in a small bow when Madeleine turned around and he could just make out the small shadows of her beige heels click by, ignoring him. "Get changed, Gwaine, we don't have all day." But despite her clipped tone, she smiled, and Gwaine counted it a small victory. With Madeleine it was all about the small victories.

Madeleine Mandol was one of the top up-and-coming stylists in New York, which was quite a feat at such a young age – but then again, Gwaine was one of the same being one of the main go-to faces of many designers like Abercrombie and Fitch, Ralph Lauren, and Gentlemen's Quarterly. The two of them met one month after Gwaine first started his career and they had been working together on many occasions since then. With Madeleine, Gwaine always knew what to expect.

Her strawberry-blonde hair was always neatly tied up, leaving a small almost-bun at the end where her waved locks would curl in slightly. Her glasses, a little thick for her small features but still managing to pull off a look of classy-sophistication, sat perfectly on her nose and hid the slight hint of freckles Gwaine knew she hated:

"They make me look about twelve years old, Gwaine." She confided to him once. They were shooting in Trafalgar Square when a sudden downpour forced the cameramen and crew to shut down, bringing the shoot to a standstill. The two of them sat under a small tent, passing a thermos of coffee between them while Gwaine dotted the small freckle on her nose with his pinkie as the rain drops fell around them.

"Ahh but Maddie, age is so relative. Plus I don't think you'd look quite as beautiful without them." He never said how endearing he thought they were, especially when she matched them with her favourite coral lipstick.

Madeleine was rare breed of woman, and from the moment Gwaine laid eyes on her those five years ago, he'd never looked at another the same way. The lass never expected anything less than perfect. She was always on time and on top of things. And if Gwaine hadn't known the two so well separately, he could've sworn Arthur and Madeleine were cut from the same cloth of overbearing and condescending.

But even with her perfectionist ways, Maddie was never cold or snappish and Gwaine always took his wins with her in stride. Despite her tailored suits and poise, demanding nature, Madeleine could also be kind and sweet. For one, she always save him at least a sip or two of her cocoa during subzero photoshoots in winter. For another, she never asked him to take off his pendant, a gift from his grandfather and a most treasured family heirloom he always wore around his neck. Gwaine always thought a girl like Maddie fell in line with the Gwens of the world; a forever kind of girl never to be left go.

It was, therefore, a surprise –albeit a wondrous surprise—when he found out she wasn't taken. No ring. No boyfriend. No girlfriend. And that was when the pursuit began. Sure, five years in the making and he'd barely built up the nerve to invite her on more than a simple outing. But what was man to do?

"Missed you in Rome last month," he spoke with a grin, shouldering on a grey blazer.

"Did you?" Madeleine smoothed down the shoulders before stepping around to inspect the front. "I'm sure you had enough models to keep you company."

That was true, to an extent. The photoshoot in Europe was certainly a sight to behold for more reasons than one. European women, on the other hand, weren't the highlight of said sights; too styled for his tastes. And after traveling there every few months, the once breath-taking architecture had turned jaded in his eyes. But then again, maybe it was because he was missing something –or someone- to share it with that made his visits so dull.

Gwaine shook his head, fumbling as he did up his tie under the stylist's accusing glare. "Not at many as you'd believe my dear," he said, calm and measured.

"Mmhmm," she shooed away his hands. "You know one of these days you're going to have to learn how to tie a tie properly."

"But that's why I have you here, yeah?" Actually, Gwaine was the one who first taught Merlin how to tie a tie. But Maddie didn't need to know that.

"I'm sure you'd be completely lost without me in Barbados anyways," was her reply.

Gwaine blinked, paused, and rewinded before replaying her words in his head twice over. "You're just telling me this now?"

"Wouldn't want you to lose sleep over it," the stylist looked up after adjusting the tie. She was smirking at him. "I know how much stress it causes you to be told what you can or can't do. I heard you were a handful in Europe so Guy asked for me to be there this time. Apparently you wouldn't listen to anyone else when they tell you your tie doesn't match your shoes?"

"Well," Gwaine shrugged and looked up at the ceiling. Maybe Guy wasn't so bad after all… "It does get a little hard to ignore someone who's as much of a tyrant as one of the buggers I live with."

"There's nothing wrong with knowing what you like."

"No," his voice softened. He let his gaze drop back down, loving the golden flecks around her green irises. "There isn't."

It wasn't longer after he'd slipped on his shoes that Gwaine was dragged off in front of the camera. Smiles, pouts, and looks into the far off distance were all second nature to him by now and to be perfectly honest, he was grateful for it. Hidden behind the bright flashes and reflective umbrellas, it was all Gwaine could do not to lurch forward in search of a certain pair of emerald eyes. He just hoped Madeleine was telling the truth about Barbados.

They didn't get the chance to continue their little chat until after the shoot had finished. Madeleine was waiting for him in the nook as he walked up and twirled his bowler hat, placing it lightly on her head before shrugging off his vest.

"You really don't care if you rip anything do you?" She asked as Gwaine flung off his tie and kicked off his shoes into a bucket.

"That hat," he ignored her, tapping the brim of the velvet still on her head. He winked, "It suits you."

"Hats aren't in right now."

"I'm sure you could start a trend."

The smallest of giggles met his ears, and Gwaine joined in with a laugh on his own. The clothes were sorted and put away and slowly but surely, the studio emptied out. The model and the stylist made their way out into the streets where the summer rains were making a rather loud entrance. Gwaine stood under the canopy, gazing on as Maddie took a step into the downpour. It was funny, Gwaine thought, how someone could be so panicked about the welfare of clothing yet so willingly drench themselves in the rain.

Maddie twirled on her toes, arm wrapped around her to keep her jacket from flying open, and Gwaine joined as the grey skies opened up. "Not worried about your hair I suppose?" He teased.

She shrugged, smile fading from her lips. "It's not like I have a date or anything waiting for me at home."

"You could always come over mine." He stuck out an arm to hail a cab before chancing a glance back again. It was the first time he'd asked, but it definitely wouldn't be the last time either. The constant back and forth was routine for them, almost to the point where one could predict the other's next sentence. Even as the flash of yellow pulled to the curb, he never let up.

"And what would we do there?"

"Anything you like."

"Well," the girl thought with a hum, pulling out the car door and resting against the glass. All around them the traffic zoomed, men and women rushed to escape the rain, and every corner, light, and sound seemed to blur. Everything seemed so rushed. Everything seemed to blend into the grey and blue, disappearing with the soft chorus of rain. Everything except the sight before him; almost-too-thick glasses, strawberry-blonde hair, and a sweet playful smile. "Why don't we wait and see what Barbados brings hmm?"

Gwaine beamed and she slipped into the car. "Will do. What better way to spend my weekend than to spend it with a princess on a beach?"

"Unfortunately," Madeleine looked up with a smile. She shook her head but blushed despite her better judgement. Later she'd tell herself it was due to the chill in the air, not the deep brown eyes that seemed to soften whenever their gaze fell on her. "I'm not a princess."

"Ahh, but you see," Gwaine bowed low and whispered. "You are to me."

And without another word, he closed the door and gave the car a tap-tap. He watched as the cab faded in with the blur of red and white lights. He stood there, listening as the sounds around him drowned in the _pitter-patter_ of the sweet, soft rain of summer.

Maybe there was still hope? After all, summer wasn't over just yet.

* * *

_**~ oOo ~  
**_

_**Please Read:**__ I wanted to take a brief moment to thank all of my readers and my beautifully awesome commenters. Your reviews light up my day and it's always a joy to see how this little fic has made so many smile – and flail. That being said, I believe I'll be wrapping up this particular AU in preparation for another. This story could have gone on and on but I don't want to drag it out and leave another unfinished story in the works while I begin another. There are two other Merlin fics in the making right now and I'd love to share them , but I won't post them until I've finished off what I'm working on now. So if there are any scenes you'd like to see before I bring ADGB to an official end, please feel free to send them my way. _


	14. Brotherhood

_Hi hi,_

_I apologize for any tears shed._

_Enjoy,_

_Bree Z Claire_

* * *

The four flatmates sat morbidly around their living room in a circle. Dinner was long gone, and so were the laughs and jokes around yet another glass coffee table. Four cups of coffee lay untouched.

One man sat slumped on the L-couch against the wall, rubbing his tired face and trying to smooth down his hair for the fifteenth time with fidgeting fingers. Another man sat to his right, staring at his hands, frozen to his seat. There was a skinnier, younger man kneeling on the floor in front of the large TV to the fidgeting man's left. He rolled around a stray meatball from his plate of pasta but couldn't bring himself to finish it. He was pouting.

Only the fourth man – the model—, who sat on the armchair, completing the group's little circle, looked moderately at ease. But even that was pushing it. The man had his legs draped over one side of the chair as he rested his head on the other, looking up at the ceiling deep in thought. He finally decided to sit upright, unable to take the silence for much longer.

"So," he laced his fingers together and looked across the table to the fidgeting man. "You're getting married in a couple weeks."

"Indeed," nodded the man numbly.

"And there's still," the kneeling man gulped. He was too tired to even lift his head off the table as he spoke, not caring how pathetic he must have looked with his head bobbing up and down with every word, "so many things to do."

"I know," answered the groom-to-be.

To the right of the groom, a lawyer stirred and whispered, "And then you're moving out."

A heavy air set around them, tugging and squeezing the air from their lungs as the four men – four _friends_ – began settling into the realization. Things changed and people moved on, and even though they didn't want to admit it, they knew people changed too. The days of Arthur, Lance, Gwaine, and Merlin were coming to an end. They had no regrets, though, of course they didn't. They all were happy for their friend and knew Lance and Gwen belonged together.

But even so, it felt too soon, like they still had adventures to go on; quests to conquer. They were a team, and soon they'd be one man short. Soon.

Too soon.

"It's like the end of an era!" Merlin covered his eyes and wailed in a sudden flood of emotion.

Gwaine reached over and patted the boy on the shoulder, feeling an unusual prickle behind his eyes that he quickly blinked away. Arthur looked away as well, as did Lance. They too felt the warm flush on their cheeks down to their necks and tried their best to hide it from one another. The hot swirl of emotion was contagious and once it started, they knew it wouldn't stop. Lance sucked in a breath and leaned back to stare at the ceiling.

Arthur sniffed and stood up, muttering about dust in his eyes as he paced around to where Cabal was busy lapping up water from his bowl in the kitchen. Arthur leaned down and tousled the scruff of the dog's neck, smiling when the pup rubbed against his shoulder and nuzzled against his neck. He sniffed again, only this time – thankfully – it was muffled in the fur of the large animal.

Arthur and Lance. Lance and Arthur. The two of them were college roommates that grew inseparable as the years flew by. Drunken nights, hangovers, too-early mornings, cramming before exams, coffee, coffee, and more coffee…they'd gone through the whole nine yards together and then some. Lance had taught Arthur the true meaning of nobility and what it took to live a life of no regrets; to look in the mirror and truly be proud of who you saw. And in return, Arthur gave him a taste of courage – and not just the liquid kind either.

Of course, it was Gwaine who taught them both a little something about fun. When Arthur and Lance first moved into the four-bedroom apartment and began looking for flatmates, Gwaine had come rampaging into their lives full of energy and a carefree look on life. He'd pulled the lawyer and doctor out of their workaholic states and showed them that it was okay to break the rules once in a while. That having a little fun here and there wouldn't kill them.

And then there was Merlin. Happy-go-lucky, sunshine smiling, contagiously bubbly, overly exuberant, too-helpful-for-his-own-good Merlin Emrys. Without him, Lance never would've met Guinevere in the first place.

Lance bowed his head for a moment before reaching out for Merlin's other shoulder. "I will miss you too, my friend."

"You'll visit?"

"You know I will."

"Promise!" Merlin bottom lip jutted out as he yelped.

"I promise."

"He's not moving far, mate," Gwaine consoled. His voice thickened a bit as he squeezed his friend's shoulder a little tighter. "Aren't I right, Lance?"

Lance could only smile in response. Who were they trying to kid? For years now Lance had been looking to open his own practice and not too long after his conference, he'd been offered just that. But in Indianapolis. Two whole states over. It was both devastating and exciting when the news came and even Merlin, who was always happy about everything, seemed to beam just a tad dimmer than he usually would at such news.

Gwen and Lance had been together when they received the news. They talked and accepted it. Was it an easy decision? No. Hell no. Morgana had already ranted and raved at her friend for leaving, crying out until the two girls embraced in a mess of tangled limbs and sobbing tears. But peace had been made. And a new chapter was about to begin for the loving bride and groom.

They knew it was right. They knew it didn't make their goodbyes any easier.

Arthur returned to the circle, eyes a little redder, but kept his eyes trained out the window as he muttered, "Stop your sniveling Merlin you look like an idiot."

Lance and Gwaine both shot half-hearted glares at the lawyer but knew his words weren't heated. Arthur never really was the heart-on-your-sleeve type of guy; he just got moody when upset. Merlin sat up anyways, drying his eyes on the sleeve of his baggy hoodie and shook away the hands on his shoulders, taking a few breaths to calm himself before looking up at the three men. If he thought about it, a year really wasn't that long at all.

In just a year he'd gone from potentially homeless to living in an elaborate and surprisingly cozy mansion of an apartment. He found friends in the most unexpected places and in the most unexpected people. He'd been punched, slapped, kicked, groped, and even pelted with fruit – bad day at the market…long story – but he'd had the time of his life with the three of them. His flatmates, the four people he shared a home with, had changed his life in the most bizarre and wonderful way.

And just like that, it was all going to fade away.

Merlin looked around at the four faces he'd never forget. "Could we at least have a group hug?"

They all hugged.

They all stood there with arms wrapped around each others shoulders, foreheads pressed against the other, and eyes shut tight in case a pesky tear decided to sneak its way to the surface. In their silence the weeks and months and years passed behind their eyes. Silent prayers were whispered and hopes burned bright. A promise to keep in touch synced with each beating heart.

"We really have to stop doing this every night," Arthur said with a shaky breath and soon the room was filled with soft chuckles of four friends.

Brothers.


	15. Wedding Rush

_Hello lovelies!_

_*Crying, sobbing, grabbing tissues* That's all folks, the very last chapter of the ADGB series! I was rushing just a tad to get this down before heading off to uni, so I hope I don't disappoint. Many hugs! And so, for the last time… Enjoy!_

_Sincerely yours,_

_Bree Z Claire_

_**Language warning: cusses will be encountered here and there**_

* * *

"…Wait…Wait no – stop screaming!" Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration as the angry shouts spewed from the headset. It was only ten in the morning and already he'd gone through two dozen messages, calling back and finalizing what he could. Except with every call he made there seemed to be five more waiting for him the moment he hung up. He'd been playing this never-ending game of catch-up ever since Lance shoved the headset and phone into Arthur's hands. "Okay. Okay, you know what? I have ano– I have another call, goodbye!"

He switched off the device and dropped his head onto his desk, barely managing to suppress a sigh. As an extra precaution he turned off the phone as well.

"Having fun?" Arthur turned his head to see Merlin leaning by the doorway of his home office. The boy was smirking again and Arthur wanted to throw something at him, but unfortunately he was too tired to move. And moving would probably anger his already growing headache.

"What difference is there between halibut, salmon, and cod anyway? They're all just fish," the lawyer whined.

"Oh, I don't know. Taste, look, texture…" Merlin prattled on for a few more minutes before realizing it was a rhetorical question. In the end he settled for a cheeky, "Only the things that matter."

The blond grumbled, pushing away the slips of paper cluttering his otherwise perfectly organized desk. Scribbled on each little coloured paper were notes and messages that needed looking over and editing and getting back to, but every time he glanced at the papers his head began spinning so Arthur decided to call it quits for now – or until Lance caught him and yelled at him for shutting off the phone. Again.

Arthur hung the headset about his neck; it weighed on him like a noose. At first glance, it seemed like a piece of cake dealing with phone call after phone call because he did it almost every day at work. Calming down clients and making negotiations to fit the needs of both parties were second nature to him. But apparently the wedding world was completely different from the law world. What seemed like an easy decision at first turned out to be ten times worse than another. No wonder Gwen had abandoned headset duty after two weeks. Lance had lasted only two days before shoving the devilish equipment into Arthur's puzzled hands.

"_Have you slept in the last forty-eight hours, Lance?" The friend had asked, looking at the groom-to-be with heavy concern. _

"_The phone," Lance looked up with wide-eyed, feverish panic, which in itself was enough to sound the warning bells. "I-It never stops ringing. There's always…something…God, Arthur take it. Take it away from me, please. I'm begging you!"_

Arthur had taken it without another word before ushering Lance off to bed for a well-needed rest. The man remained panicked and sweaty the entire way up the stairs, muttering about messages and due dates and menus and caterers…Arthur shook his head. How bad could it be, he thought, planning a wedding? He casually answered the phone for the first time that night, which up until then had been buzzing continuously, and immediately regretted it.

Gwen didn't want to hire a wedding planner – "We can all chip in together. It'll be fun!" – so now all the final tasks were spread out among the couple's friends. That meant Arthur, Merlin, Morgana, and everyone else were busy scurrying around this week helping out with the final touches. Arthur didn't know how she managed it, but Morgana had somehow convinced Uther that they needed a weeklong break (in which no day was even close to resembling relaxation).

So while Gwaine was having fun arranging the gentlemen attire for the wedding –what better job was there for a model really?— Arthur was waging war against the wedding world, fighting through twenty minutes of continuous onslaught before hastily shutting off the buzzing cellphone and headset _not_ out of fear despite what Morgana said. He was pretty sure his brain was on a default headache-mode, because there was no order! Just a messy collage of menus here and tablecloths there and RSVPs up the middle. How the hell was anyone supposed to make sense of it all?

"I'd say go with halibut," Merlin shook Arthur out of the catatonic state he'd taken to freezing into when it all became too much, which was at least twice every few hours. When Arthur gave him a raised brown, he continued with a shrug. "It's more versatile."

Arthur cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. "And how, _Mer_lin, would you know?"

"I know everything," the boy beamed his goofy grin, and dodged a flying computer screen.

* * *

**_~oOo~_**

After an early lunch, Arthur, Lance, and Merlin gathered in the living room to sort through battle plans.

Lance was in a frenzy, wildly scribbling down jobs that still needed completing in no particular order or organized fashion. Merlin and Arthur watched in silence, almost too afraid to interrupt in fear of causing a mental breakdown in their friend. It seemed that the closer they got to Wedding Day, the crazier things got. Even Gwen look slightly haggard – but no one dared mention that to her face. They all still enjoyed living thank you very much.

"Okay!" The doctor leapt up and waved two long lists in the air. The two flatmates jumped up as well, though for a completely different reason, as Lance shot out orders at lightning speed, "Merlin! You take this list and head downstairs to meet up with Gwen and Morgana. Arthur, you're with me and the boys today. We have some serious driving to do! Leon and Percival are downstairs waiting so c'mon!"

Lance shoved the lists into their faces and vaulted over the couch, barely remembering his shoes before sprinting out the door. Lawyer and assistant stared after their friend, blinking, and tried to place what had just happened before looking down at their scrolls of duty.

Merlin gasped and sputtered the minute he spotted 'flower shops' written in bold. "But flowers are evil!"

"So you end up sneezing till your eyes pop out, big deal! What the bloody hell is a fish bowl arrangement?" Arthur squinted at his paper.

The two shared a look before taking equally deep breaths and making their way downstairs.

* * *

**_~oOo~_**

"I thought you already decided on flowers," Merlin said as he picked his way through the jungle. The moment he stepped through the doors he'd been sneezing nonstop and he could tell the shopkeeper was not impressed. It was obvious from the death glares that said shopkeeper was more concerned about her flower than Merlin. He looked past a tall vase of wildflowers to where Morgana and Gwen sat huddled around a rather large binder full of pictures of flower arrangements and Merlin wondered how much longer he'd have to stay in this flowery hell.

"Finalizations, Merlin. That's the key word here," Morgana looked up from the laminated sheet and hugged Gwen. "Organization and finalization; you'd do well to remember those words for your own wedding."

"If I ever get married," The dark haired man muttered before catapulting himself back into the wall with another grand sneeze. The two girls winced and Merlin made a hasty recovery of the tulips and berries – berries in a flower arrangement?! – that were on the brink of shattering to the ground. The shopkeeper glared at him again before slipping through the back door for her break. "Sorry!" he yelled after her.

Gwen dug into her purse and offered him a tissue. "Thank you for coming Merlin; I really do appreciate your help."

"What are best friends for?" Merlin smiled as he tiptoed around a statue to his friend.

Morgana gasped and held a hand to her chest in mock hurt. "And me? What am I here for?"

The two girls fell into bouts of giggles after that, hugging and pointing their attention back to the albums of colourful flowers.

Morgana, contrary to popular belief, had been planning imaginary weddings from time she could say "sweetheart neckline" and Merlin supposed it was something hotwired into every girl until he remembered Gwen.

Gwen was raised in a simple town with simple needs and had set on a simple wedding, not quite sure the difference between a veil and a train, until Morgana got her claws into her. It was a good thing they were planning the wedding for so long because between Gwen's indecision and Morgana thirst for "the perfect wedding," things grew at an exponential rate. But then again, it seemed like everyone was looking forward to the larger-than-life wedding. And Merlin knew that if anyone deserved such a grand wedding, it was Gwen.

They were still getting married in the same church as Lance's grandparents, and as far as the actual wedding ceremony went, things didn't look quite that complicated. It wasn't until Morgana started organizing the reception party that the snowball began charging downhill.

And of course having known Gwen since university, Merlin had been on the girl side of the wedding tracks the entire time. He and Morgana and Gwen spent hours organizing and sorting out preliminary plans; Merlin still had a few dozen accordion folders stuffed in his closet and under his bed, so Merlin was pretty sure he knew the wedding backwards and forwards.

It was both embarrassing and…actually no. Just embarrassing.

He felt like his manhood was being held captive.

And Morgana was to blame.

He wasn't even supposed to be involved in the first place! But then Morgana had walked by while Merlin was reorganizing the office folders for the umpteenth time that month – despite what Arthur said, there really was a good reason for him doing it. That Cedric from level forty-six was known to loom around and poke his beaky nose into everyone's files so Merlin took great precaution in protecting the privacy of his and Arthur's clients…but annoying Arthur was pretty fun too – and amidst the coloured tabs and swift multitasking, the woman had high-jacked him and brought him into her office to present him with the wedding mission. And what choice did he have? With Morgana, you always found yourself saying "yes."

But he supposed it was useful, what with him living with Lance but also knowing the ins and outs of what Gwen wanted for the wedding. Many a phone call had been saved due to him knowing what the other would say when asked things like, "What song did he want to play for our first dance?" or "Do you think his family have any food allergies?" and also "Does she want me wearing a bowtie, tie, or ascot?"

The way you look tonight by Frank Sinatra.

Yes – go with fish. The Dulacs love seafood.

Tie. Always a tie. Burn the ascot before Morgana tears out your soul.

Merlin was snapped from his trance by a row of sneezes, this time landing ungracefully on his backside by the front door. _Flowers_. He hated flowers. Merlin rubbed his head where he'd bumped an indoor waterfall and cursed. When _he_ got married he'd do it inside without flowers, standing at the altar with the room filled with bricks and air filters humming reassuringly at all entrances. Damn pollen – Lance wouldn't even spare him five seconds to pop an allergy pill! Wedding Crazy, Merlin thought with narrowed eyes, he hoped he never caught it.

Even better, he'd have Will married him off right then and there on the spot in the safety of his own home so there'd be no wedding panic to deal with. After spending two months trying to set him up with someone, Will had himself ordained over the internet one drunken night in a crazed attempt to married Merlin off to the first gay man he could find. It did not end well.

Merlin blew his nose nosily and felt his tickled nose subdue until he rose to brush himself off, jostling an overhanging pot and sprinkling himself with horrid pollen. This time he sneezed himself out the door when a couple entered the shop.

Gwen was holding out another tissue when he hobbled back in. She gave him a sympathetic smile as she asked, "Do you think an Easter lily garland would be too much?"

Morgana held up the album with a smile, nodding her head in approval.

Merlin scowled, asking with a stuffy, "Ever consider an underwater wedding?"

* * *

**_~oOo~_**

Leon drove like a maniac.

And Arthur had the bruises to prove it.

The car swerved to the left and Arthur braced for impact as both Percival and Lance hurdled toward him. They'd already went to check up on Gwaine, Lance quickly banning all suggestions of ascots as they all slipped on their tuxedos and cummerbunds to test the fit. They were perfect of course; Gwaine had made sure of it. Even Percival's massive arms slipped easily into his silk-lined jacket. They moved out in a rush after that, loading the clothes into the trunk before zipping to the church to meet the Reverend.

Arthur had taken another go at the whole Headset of Doom duty, confirming a few more RSVPs before battling with the caterers once more, trusting Merlin was right about the halibut when the last shipment of chicken – the originally chosen dish – has mysteriously vanished. But that's when all hell broke loose, opening up a can of monster worms, volcanoes, and hurricanes. Arthur was bombarded with question after question, most of which he had no idea how to answer. He suddenly understood when Lance had such difficulty keeping his composure in the weeks previous…

"Would you like your hors d'oeuvres to be passed or put on platters, Monsieur?"_ What is the difference?_

"Sit-down dinner, buffet, or food stations, Mr. Dulac?"_ … Could you repeat that one more time, please?_

"What on earth are _bombonieres_?" He'd yelled at Lance after they'd given the band the finalize playlist. There was a stuffy sounding man on the line who sounded much too put out by whatever he was doing, telling Arthur there were boxes upon boxes of bombonieres waiting for their pick-up. The brunet sagged back in his seat, muttering some awful amounts of gibberish before the blond lawyer held up a hand, shutting him up. All in all, Arthur was definitely not impressed. Gwen and Lance were just too nice for their own good, much like Merlin, and though Lance had the whole nobility and chivalry down to a tee, apparently weddings sucked it out of him and threw it in the bin.

The thing was, since Lance had been spending so much time at the hospital during the prior months, Gwen and Morgana had been taking the brunt of the planning. But where Morgana would've plowed on ahead – "When I get married, all Leon has to do if just show up and not screw up his only two words"— Gwen actually wanted her husband involved in the planning and execution; fifty-fifty. So unsurprisingly Lance needed the most help playing catch-up and that's why he'd employed the whole team.

They were zooming down to the jewellers to pick up the rings when Arthur growled, "That's it! I quit! Get Gwaine to be your best man because _I am done_!"

He could only be pushed so far, Arthur thought, and this complete and utter lack or order was throwing him off. Even though she drove him up the wall, Arthur had to admit that he would've had better luck trailing Morgana and Gwen instead of dealing with this mayhem and discombobulation with Lance as their more-than-a-little-sleep-deprived leader.

"It can't be that bad. Suck it up princess," Gwaine laughed from where he was riding shotgun.

"Would you like to give it a go?" The blond dangled the mess of wires and blinding neon-coloured notes.

"Don't give up Arthur, please, you're doing great," Lance reassured, but Arthur wasn't having any of it.

"No no no," He pushed the headset away, letting it drop to the center of the car, and crossed his arms. "I'm sure Gwaine will do a great job keeping the rings safe and signing the marriage license with his scribbles. You know his writing's worse than Merlin's?" The last bit was cut off when the car came to an abrupt halt. Around the car, everyone was doing their own little dance of _please let my fingers still be attached to my body _while throwing glares at the driver. Percival rubbed his forehead from where he'd bumped himself against the back of Gwaine's seat.

Leon beamed and spoke with the excitement of someone who really should've skipped their morning coffee today, "Excalibur Jewellers on your left, gentlemen."

* * *

**_~oOo~_**

_**From Merlin:**__ I think I'm dying _

_**From Arthur:**__ Kill me now_

_**From Merlin:**__ You too?_

_**From Arthur:**__ Not much better then?_

_**From Merlin: **__I think we're texting at the same time_

_**From Arthur: **__We're texting at the same time_

_**From Merlin:**__ Stop it!_

_**From Arthur:**__ Okay enough_

…

_**From Merlin: **__It's barely noon_

_**From Arthur: **__Don't remind me_

_**From Merlin: **__Grin and bear it?_

_**From Arthur: **__Grin and bear it_

* * *

**_~oOo~_**

"Okay," Morgana hurried them down the aisles, checking off the items on her list with a flick of her wrist. They'd officially left the floral shop –_thank God!_— and were now plundering their way through the rest of their duties which were, thanks to Morgana her wedding binder, followed at least some sort of logical pattern. Merlin briefly wondered how the guys were doing and more so if Leon had gotten a speeding ticket yet. "Merlin, how's mission Four-Somethings looking?"

Merlin scrolled down the screen on his phone, scanning over his own virtual list as they turned into another bridal boutique. He and Gwen were hooked by the arms as Merlin was still recovering from his sneezing episode. "Something old?" He said, holding back a sneeze when the overwhelming scent of perfume assaulted him upon their entrance.

"My mother's broach," she replied dutifully.

"Something new?"

"My wedding dress," Gwen smiled and Morgana rifled through her folders to admire the picture.

They took a minute to marvel at the fairy-tale gown, hanging off the shoulder, a heavenly white with intricate silver embroidery over a well-fitted bodice. The bodice was Eve of Milady's signature drop waist and dipped at the back which, if Merlin hadn't been forced to research wedding magazines for the past months, could fool the eye into thinking the dress would dropped away if anything were to catch the cathedral length train. It was a perfect fit from the moment Gwen slipped it on, wrapping around her like a second skin and exposing the smooth, cinnamon-brown skin of her collarbone. The traditional scroll patterns, and tulle and lace brought a whole new meaning to the word royalty and Merlin could picture no one dress as befitting as this.

"Eve of Milady," Morgana sighed dreamily. "A very nice choice."

There was a sudden halt as Merlin very nearly walked into Morgana. Beside him he could hear a soft gasp as Gwen pulled him closer to the glass case filled to the brim with fine jewel necklaces and crystal clear diamond rings. Merlin had to literally drag the two girls away from the tiara collection before they changed their minds again – "Touch that tiara and I'm melting it the first chance I get!" – and ended up spending another two hours playing the debating game.

"Oh Merlin," Morgana's emerald-eyes matched her friend's pout. "Not even a peak?"

"Control yourself, woman." Merlin channeled his inner Arthur and pushed them away. He would be damned if he let anything take away from that dress. He cleared his throat and brought them back into focus, "Something borrowed?"

"Rosa's veil." Rosa, Elyan's wife of five years, loved Gwen like a sister. Merlin had been over to babysit a couple times; Aidan and Mimi always loved gathering around the small keyboard in the living room for a sing-along.

"And something blue?" He looked up and shoved the phone into his pocket. That was what there were looking for now.

"A garter?" Morgana held up the frilly design, a blue satin bow and a chiffon ruffle. She twirled it in the air as if it weren't supposed to be ravished off of the bride's leg and thrown into a group of howling men. Merlin pointedly noted to be somewhere else when said event took place.

Gwen giggled as he turned away. He chose instead to fervently examine a wall of ring pillows when Morgana dived head first into the slips & garters section.

It was bad enough that they'd forced him to the hair salon. The made him sit there on those incredibly uncomfortable plastic chairs –to deter customers until their hair demanded cutting, Merlin thought for sure – while the girls took their damn time going back and forth between two different up-dos. And clothes Merlin could deal with, but hair and makeup? They may as well have locked him in a cage on exploding hairspray cans and left him to die behind enemy lines.

And don't get him started on the mass collection of eye shadows, blushes, concealers, and God knows what else those two were picking up while Merlin busied himself with a bag of chips…

They didn't have a flower girl – "YES!" – nor did they have a ring bearer so Merlin looked over the shelves of toasting glasses. "Who needs customized, beach themed flutes?" he muttered. Seriously, couldn't they just be plain old clear glass champagne glasses? And then there were the poly resign carved handles and bases…Merlin resisted the urge to _accidentally_ tumble into the shelf, no doubt saving many futures brides with his noble act.

When it looked as if the girls were done with the lace and chiffon, Merlin breathed a sigh of relief when they stepped out on the streets again.

"I feel like we're forgetting something," Gwen chewed her bottom lip and Morgana nodded. She juggled the shopping bags and folders a few minutes, catching a few stray receipts before the wind picked them up, before opening the wedding binder and scanned down the page.

"Honeymoon tickets?" Merlin suggested helpfully

"Got that," Morgana said.

Gwen stopped dead.

"Gwen?" The two turned as the bride slapped a hand over her mouth.

"The honeymoon," she turned to Morgana. "I haven't even begun to pack!"

The man of the group raised a brow. He tugged them along when pedestrians started shooting them looks for stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. "They're just clothes, just a throw a bunch in your suitcase and you're good to go."

The two girls on his left stared as if he'd grown a second head.

"You can't be serious Merlin," Morgana chided. "A newly wedded bride must plan her honeymoon arsenal to precision. This isn't just your everyday run-of-the-mill vacation to mom and dad's or a summer holiday, Merlin. Your honeymoon is the official start of your married life and you can either start it off as an unorganized flop-in-the-mud, go-where-the-wind-takes-you mess or you can have it be the proverbial cherry on the top of your post-wedding, low fat, five-tiered cake!"

She trailed on, describing the do's and don't's like describing a fine wine, and Merlin let her. Sometimes there was just no understanding her when Morgana went on a rant. Beside him, Gwen nodded her head, though not quite as strongly as Morgana was ranting, but still, he could tell that this honeymoon business was apparently to be taken quite seriously.

"So what are you going to wear?" He asked when it looked like she was running out of steam.

"Why, I'm so glad you asked my darling," her green eyes twinkled as they came to their next stop and Merlin could feel the demonic aura emanate off of her as his eyes trailed up to the sign and then to the store window when it didn't dawn on him right away. Then and there, he knew exactly why Arthur always called her the devil in disguise because that was exactly what she was.

"No," he whispered, not trusting his voice to grow much louder.

"Oh yes," Morgana grinned, bearing her pearly white fangs. "Now be a good boy and hold these bags for me while us ladies get to work." She dumped the handful of bags, binders, and boxes – shoes, which thankfully weren't the glass slipper design they originally planned on getting – into Merlin's arms before taking the bride by the wrist.

And just when he thought he was out of danger, thinking that maybe they'd be nice enough to let him stand outside where it was safe, he felt a strong tug by the collar of his shirt, dragging him inside.

* * *

**_~oOo~_**

_**From Merlin:**__ Code Red! Girlie bits! _

_**From Arthur:**__ Lance may have reservations about that if he didn't know about your massive crush on Chris Hemsworth_

_**From Merlin:**__ Have you _seen_ Thor?!_

_**From Arthur:**__ At least no more sneezing?_

_**From Merlin: **__Worse. My eyes. They burn!_

_**From Arthur:**__ What are you on about?_

_**From Merlin: **__Lingerie…garter belts…whips…leather…so much leather…_

* * *

Arthur blinked down at his text, wondering why Merlin would bother going through the trouble of sending him a picture...

Shit!

Dear G—

No!

NO!

Arthur threw down his phone and plastered his hands over his eyes, shaking his head roughly. _Damnit Merlin! _He was going to have to call for a lobotomy before he could ever get the mental image of _Morgana_ and _leather_ out of his brain where it was singed into by now.

The only one of the boys close enough to notice his frantic flails was Lance, who thought Arthur was just having another phone related episode, which he was, just not the kind he thought.

The crew of men had made their final stop at the Round Table. The large function hall stretched far and wide with plentiful space for tables, a large dance floor, and a raised stage for the band. Lance was currently being guided around the hall, finalizing the colour of the bows on the chairs or something – Arthur had stopped paying attention after he saw the snooty, shrill young lady in charge of the hall flounce in looking like a bird who had one too many ruffled feathers.

The rest of the crew, sans Arthur, who had, at the time, been drowning in a sea of phone calls, were currently running around and rearranging the reception room layout by means of a game involving an array of flips, dives, shouts, and God knows what else. Apparently Lance's Uncle Bors had an issue with sitting next to the brand of hardwood used on the dance floor. Lance's cousin Hector wasn't supposed to be seated anywhere near a ventilation system, and Gwen's aunt Gertrude detested the sight of Gwen's uncle Roy.

Long story short; Murphy's Law was the biggest arsehole in the playground; the kind that kicks a guy when he's down, pokes fun at him, and steals the girl (or guy) of said victim's dreams, all the while keeping a shit-eating grin on his face.

So while Gwaine, Percival, and Leon battled it out playing some strange game of Tetris, Jenga, and ninja musical chairs, Arthur and Elyan had the seating blueprint spread out on the table in front of them, ordering and reordering the guests with little flag pins until everyone was satisfied, or at least that's what they hoped.

Elyan had the unfortunate job of numbering the changing up the place cards, and Arthur was increasingly impress by the man's patience every time Percival decided he'd rather sit at table five instead of table nine or Leon changed the table numbers or Gwaine magically made it so he was sitting at a table full of bridesmaids or at the bar. Arthur readily concluded that Elyan was a saint because the only hint of annoyance the man gave off was a furrowed brow and a sharp exhale as he removed his hands from his hips and began reordering the pins once again.

Arthur, however, had no such sainthood in the department of patience. In fact, he'd been running on empty for about three days now. Who knew answering phones could be so aggravating? Arthur found himself gaining new respect for telemarketers and secretaries everywhere.

Okay, well maybe not telemarketers. But definitely secretaries and personal assistants.

He understood now why Merlin never talked to him while he was busy taking phone calls, even though Arthur sometimes had to wait at the assistant's desk for a good twenty minutes, bouncing a collection of papers balls off his dark locks before finally getting a response. There was just so much to do, so much to keep track of when trying to complete one simple task.

Merlin seemed to have no trouble it, now that Arthur thought about it. The assistant's desk was an utter mess, there was no doubting that, but Merlin somehow found balance and security along the hard beech wood. Anything Arthur needed, Merlin knew exactly where to find it. Anything Arthur had lost would magically turn up in one of Merlin's drawers or in the little corner Merlin always reserved as an official _Arthur Corner_ on his radial desk – it's where Arthur always found an extra pack of Tic-Tacs perched happily on the small shelf above the drawers.

He loved that desk, Merlin had confided in him once, how the radial layout wrapped around him in a protective L, forming a Merlin only work area that not even Arthur would dare step into – and only because Merlin would roll into him chair first and claim he didn't see Arthur in the first place when they both knew that was a lie.

No matter how crazed and unorganized and flooded with loose-leaf his desk seemed to get –the complete opposite of Arthur's workspace – Merlin knew with expert precision the location of every file, every folder, every document, every fact and signature that passed his eyes. But Merlin's most remarkable talent was probably single-handedly safeguarding Arthur's door from unwelcomed visitors. The new desk had become a literal shield in time of war (AKA when Arthur's ex-girlfriends returned with vengeance) that both were thankful for.

It was always quite hilarious when Uther came to visit the office, forcing Merlin to clean up for appearance sake. Arthur could never fathom how lost the boy got after cleaning because, as it turned out, when the desk was flawlessly spick-and-span, the process of actually finding something turned into an excruciating game of finding a needle in the haystack. It was due to this illogical fact that Arthur never made Merlin clean his desk, despite how paperclips seemed to sprout like daisies, waterfalling off the desk every Monday morning.

The blond rubbed his eyes, picturing the all too familiar scene with a small smile: Merlin sitting on his lavishly soft leather chair – after complaining none stop about his 'sore bottom,' Arthur finally caved and bought him a suitable chair – rolling smoothly from the computer monitor on one side of the long desk to the other side where the drawers sat. And then it suddenly occurred to him.

Merlin was the answer.

Merlin, who got through more phone calls in ten minutes than Arthur could in one hour. Merlin, who bounced back and forth between office party plans, relaying messages from the paralegal, Elijah, and making appointments with clients. Merlin, who could prepare summonses, subpoenas, and appeals in the blink of an eye while fending off Morgana about the latest office memo Arthur had just sent out.

Merlin, who knew the difference between halibut, salmon, and cod.

Merlin, who had a junkyard collection of accordion folders stashed everywhere around his room relating to the wedding.

_Damn it, _why didn't Arthur think of this earlier?

**_~oOo~_**

_**From Arthur: **__Switch?_

_**From Merlin: **__Yes please! _

**_~oOo~_**

In the end, Arthur ended up stealing the car, leaving his friends stranded at the reception hall while Lance proceeded to go into a full-blown panic mode – the headset remained untouched and abandoned on one of the tables along with the ringing phone and no one wanted to risk an aneurysm answering it – and Elyan hurled more than a few flag pins at the musical chair players.

But then Merlin appeared, gently tossing the keys over to Leon, sat down, and with impeccably ease lifted the headset around his ears while simultaneously answering a call. What happened next would go down in wedding history and have Lance regarding Merlin with God-like stature for the rest of his life.

The man had a natural fluency and grace dealing with the seemingly demonic contraption. The five men stared in disbelief as Merlin continued on settling disputes, taking, and recording messages all while keeping a genuine smile on his face. And by the sound of things from whoever was on the other line, whether it was a chef or the officiant or someone calling to RSVP, Merlin's natural tranquility and cheerfulness seemed to flow into them too.

There was never a surprise that caught him off guard because believe it or not, Merlin knew everything about the wedding; inside and out. Gwaine took a little break from arranging chairs and led the men in a quick rah-rah cheer for the group's new hero after the lawyer's assistant made the essential changes to the seating arrangement while confirming limo rides for the big day. Everyone had a smile on their face as they drove home, Gwaine and Percival having tackled the keys away from Leon so they'd all get back in one piece.

The elevator ride up to the apartment was a snug fit, but the tension had evaporated from the groom-to-be. Lance had taken on a Zen-like state and Merlin smiled because he knew exactly what the man was thinking of. He shoved a playful shoulder, jostling the brunet into Elyan.

"Mrs. Guinevere Dulac," Gwaine teased from the back. "Has a nice ring to it, yeah?"

Lance bowed his head in a deep blush. "It does indeed."

"Now Lance," Elyan said solemnly. He placed a heavy hand on the man's shoulders and frowned. "As Gwen's big brother, I am obligated to say that if you ever hurt my little sister I will hunt you down and kick your ass."

There was a pause. Everyone stared.

"Or you know…get Percival to do it."

Percival nodded seriously.

Lance gulped.

"But," the brother resumed. "You are the noblest man I have ever met, and so I know that there will never be a need to murder you or hide you in Percival's warehouse for all of eternity."

Percival nodded again, even more serious than before.

Lance let out a shaky breath, but it was Merlin who couldn't hold it in any longer and soon the whole elevator filled with laughter as they reached their level with a light _ding_. They shoved at each other, joking and jibing as Lance tried to take out his key without being slammed into the door when Percy gave him a hearty slap on the back. Eventually he gave up and let Merlin open the door to the apartment.

Morgana was pacing the living room with angry stomps. Gwen and Arthur sat on the sectional couch against the large staircase, and while Gwen was looking particularly fidgety, Arthur looks almost bored.

"You know, there is such a thing as being too efficient!" She lectured. Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Don't be difficult, Morgana. For goodness sakes I got you all those discounts didn't I? And we finished everything on the list in a timely manner –"

"Only because you manhandled us back to the florists' to yell at that poor girl for half an hour when you saw the receipt!"

"Who charges hundreds of dollars for colourful weeds anyways? They should be sued!"

"Oh my gosh, no wonder Lance didn't want you on his team anymore, _you are so uptight_."

"At least _I_ didn't shriek at the sight of icing dropped on my shirt."

"It was silk and dry clean only."

"And did you have to strip off your shirt then and there and run across the street to the dry cleaners too?"

The siblings glared at each other and Merlin took the moment to glance at the trio. He was glad to see Arthur looking a little less pale than he was when they'd switched. The blond had loosened his tie and had his legs crossed, one ankle over his other knee, and there was an ease in his shoulders that Merlin registered as Arthur's hard-day-but-accomplished-day pose. Merlin and the others slowly eased into the room as Morgana threw her arms in the air and shrieked.

"I can't believe we're related!"

"Well at least we agree on something then!"

Whatever she was going to say next was briskly cut off when Leon cleared his throat and Morgana whirled around to beam at them. A little hustle and bustle took place as stories were passed back and forth, each party trying to best the other with their own daily horror – apparently Merlin's story of the lingerie store didn't even qualify, which he thought was rightfully horrifying. He did, however, win out on his torture via pollen at the florist's because everyone knew how bad his allergies were.

They ordered take-out that night, and gathered around the flat screen for their tradition movie night, spreading around the living room and breaking out the snacks; Rolos for Arthur, popcorn drowned in butter for Gwaine, Swedish Berries for Lance, and Merlin's Krackel mini chocolate bars – thanks to Arthur training Cabal the trick of seek-and-destroy-kettle-corn-bags, Merlin had to switch over to something else. So he settled down into his spot in front of the coffee table, Arthur to his left and Gwaine's legs, propped up on the table, to his right. The blue-eyed chocolate lover immediately dug into his Bulk Barn bag of goodies.

Pillows and Blankets were tossed around as people began debating over what movie to watch, bickering like the brothers and sisters they'd grown to become over their time together, eventually settling on an action-adventure with a little comedy thrown in on the side. There was lull in the room as the opening credits bounced into view, and for the briefest moment in time the approaching day was forgotten. Instead, shoulders settled down against a loved one, toes touched and knocked and teased, treats were stolen and popcorn was thrown, and friends laughed till tears bubbled up and filled the entire room.

As far as anyone was concerned, operation Wedding Day was a go. And no one doubted how beautiful it would be.

* * *

_**The Reception**_

Arthur took another sip of his champagne and watched with a glowing smile as the band, after a short intermission, started up with a bang. As expected, the wedding went beautifully, and now they were all spending the rest of the day at the Round Table for the reception. He watched as Gwaine bursted into the Macarena on the dance floor and Percy tried to best him by attempting the Funky Chicken, only to fail terribly when he ended up elbowing an elderly couple off the hardwood.

Leon and Morgana were taking their turns dancing with the bride and groom before finding their way back to one another, and Arthur had to smirk when he and Morgana caught each other's eye. He wondered briefly if she'd actually be patient enough to wait for Leon or if she'd end up catching the bouquet and dragging the man off the Vegas without so much as a "Will you marry me?"

Arthur hid his laugh behind another sip of champagne. He himself had just finished his dance with Gwen, beaming at her like any proud friend would.

Gwen had laughed at him, "Really Arthur, you look like my dad before he stuck my drawings up on the fridge."

"Why wouldn't I be? I couldn't imagine any two people more suited for one another than you and Lance." He lowered his voice with the music, "Your father would've been so happy to see you here today."

She had smiled at him then, a sad smile, but a grateful one. With their father long past, Elyan had been the one to walk Gwen down the aisle and give her away. But today was no day for tears of lost– they'd moved on since that day – and instead, the siblings leaned on each other, knowing how proud their father would be to see his little girl finally getting married to the man of her dreams.

The music changed soon after, and Gwaine had cut in with a shove, forcing Arthur into a table of toddlers. A little girl in a long pink princess gown asked him to dance and who was Arthur to say no to a princess? He'd said as much, and soon he was dancing song after song with princess after princess – Arthur had raised his head at one point, seeing Merlin and Lance smiling at him from the bar, and Morgana by her table take a multitude of pictures no doubt saving them for blackmail – until the last young girl hopped off Arthur's toes where he'd let her stand and ran happily to her mother with a giggling grin. He decided to take his escape then to regain the feelings in his toes

"Arthur, quick, come dance with me!" He barely had the chance to sit down and rest before he was dragged out onto the dance floor again.

"_Mer_lin," He growled, loosening the man's vice grip on his shoulders as Merlin steered them further into the crowd of swaying bodies. There were no missing the winking glances and not-so-subtle smirks passed their way when Arthur raised his head to glance around, grumbling. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Shh," Merlin hissed back, ducking into the blond's shoulder. He pushed and pulled Arthur around like a makeshift warrior using an oversized shield for protection against some onslaught, but with his small size and bent over posture, Merlin only managed to look cowering. "I'm hiding from the guy at the bar."

Arthur looked over his shoulder to wear the idiot was nervously throwing back his eyes and spotted a man with a hooked nose and beady looking eyes. The slightly balding man looked especially put out by the fact that he and Merlin weren't the ones dancing. Arthur let out an airy laugh.

"You really know how to pick 'em don't you Merlin?"

"Shut up, prat."

Arthur waited till the music sank in, easing Merlin to the beat of the string quartet and listening to the velvet sounds twirl high into the ceiling as the couples dances around them. And then waited some more as the panicking idiot finally let out the breath he'd been hold ever since they started their awkward side-to-side waddling. Thankfully someone had taken the hint, and when both men turned to look back at the bar, the beady-eyed man was gone.

They shared a look and laughed.

"Big day." Merlin beamed. "Can you believe it?"

Arthur just shook his head. It'd had been a long journey to get to where they were today. A journey filled to the brim with disappointment, heartbreak, and long nights, but it was all worth it in the end. And it was a journey they'd all taken together.

He wasn't sure how long he and Merlin danced for, going back and forth between "Hey, remember the time we…" or "Can you believe we actually did that?" and then angry shouts of "Where was I when that happened?" and then some. But just when the memories began blending together into one large ball of tear-inducing emotion, the music shut off.

From across the hall, Gwaine bellowed out something along the lines of, "Garter toss!" And the crowd went wild as Merlin went wide-eyed and Arthur rose a brow. The sea of people began to shift. The dance floor cleared except for Gwen sitting on a single chair. And Barry White was blasted off the speakers —

_Darling, I can't get enough of your love babe  
Girl, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know why  
I can't get enough of your love babe  
Oh no, babe_

— as Lance twirled onto the hardwood like a professional dancer. Somehow he'd gotten his hands on a top hat and was currently trotting along the border, sidestepping and spinning here and there to the music. Everyone was clapping and whistling, and even Gwen, who'd definitely not expected this little show, was tearing up with laughter. The men gathered around, rooting on their friend, while the girls cheerfully clapped along.

The groom did a final twirl and ran into a power slide, shooting across the floor to his blushing bride. Gwen was still catching her breath from all the laughing, but everyone could see the loving looks mirrored in their faces.

And then he reached under her dress.

"Um…should we?" Arthur resisted the push of the crowd as the men anticipated the garter throw, as did Merlin.

"Run away?" Merlin finished with growing panic. He shivered at the memory of a certain lingerie shop.

"Run away."

* * *

_So here we are; the very end :) . Thank you to everyone who's read this little fic and took the time to write truly wonderful reviews. I don't think I could've finished this without all your love and support and I just hope I've managed to make you guys smile at least once. Till next time!_


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